ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
PART I
Introductory
1. Short title
2. Interpretation
PART II
Land Boards
3. Establishment of land boards
4. Temporary members
5. Co-option
6. Vacation of office
7. Procedure of land board
8. ...
9. Land boards to be bodies corporate
10. Vesting of tribal land in land boards
11. Formulation of policy
PART IIA - PART IIF
(repealed)
PART III
Grant of Customary Land Rights
12. Application of Part
13. Functions of land boards in relation to customary tenure
14. Appeals to Minister
15. Grounds justifying cancellation of customary rights
16. Issue of certificate of grant
17. Land use zones
18. ...
19. Creation of subordinate land boards
20. Limitations on grant of land
21. Effect of Part and presumption that Part applies
PART IV
Grant of Land Rights under Common Law
22. Application of Part
23. Grant of land rights on a monthly basis
24. Grant of certain rights
25. Compensation for improvements
26. ...
27. Change of user
28. Cancellation of grant and recovery of possession
29. Presumption
30. Certificate of Minister
31. Prohibitions on grant of land
PART V
Land Required for Public Purposes
32. Grant of land to State for public purposes
33. Privately owned customary rights
34. Other privately owned rights
35. Commission of inquiry
PART VI
Land Board Funds
36. Land board funds
PART VII
General
37. Regulations
38. Transfer of rights
39. Offences and penalties
40. Establishment of land tribunals
First Schedule
Second Schedule - Tati Tribal Area
Third Schedule - Chobe Tribal Area
Fourth Schedule - Kgalagadi Tribal Area
Fifth Schedule - Ghanzi Tribal Area
Act 54, 1968,
Act 48, 1969,
Act 62, 1970,
Act 70, 1970,
Act 42, 1971,
Act 13, 1975,
Act 21, 1976,
Act 4, 1979,
Act 24, 1980,
S.I. 102, 1981,
Act 26, 1982,
Act 33, 1983,
Act 3, 1984,
Act 24, 1984,
S.I. 91, 1984,
S.I. 103, 1984,
Act 16, 1985,
Act 5, 1986,
S.I. 35, 1986,
Act 15, 1987,
Act 14, 1993,
Act 10 of 1994,
S.I. 92, 1999,
Act 1, 2003,
Act 24, 2004,
Act 18, 2007,
Act 30, 2008,
S.I. 19, 2011.
An Act to provide for the establishment of tribal land boards; to vest tribal land in such boards; to define the powers and duties of such boards; and to provide for matters incidental thereto.
[Date of Commencement: 30th January, 1970]
PART I
Introductory (ss 1-2)
This Act may be cited as the Tribal Land Act.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
"appointing authority" means the Director and any person to whom he or she has delegated his or her powers under section 11D(3);
[24 of 2004, s. 2.]
"Chief" includes any person performing the functions of Chief;
"Commission" means the Land Board Service Commission established under section 11V;
[24 of 2004, s. 2.]
"customary law", in relation to any land, means the customary law of the place where the land is situated;
"develop" in respect of the grant of an area of tribal land means to introduce or carry out works or improvements in accordance with the purpose for which the grant was made, and "development" shall be construed accordingly;
[14 of 1993, s. 2(a).]
"diagram" means a document containing geometrical, numerical and verbal representations of a piece of land, which has been signed by a land surveyor and which has been approved or certified by the Director of Surveys and Lands or other officer empowered under the Land Survey Act (Cap. 33:01) so to approve or certify a diagram, and includes a diagram or copy thereof prepared in the Director's office and approved or certified as aforesaid, or a document which has, at any time prior to the commencement of the Land Survey Act, been accepted as a diagram in the Deeds Registry;
[14 of 1993, s. 2(b).]
"Director" means the Director appointed under section 11D(1);
[24 of 2004, s. 2.]
"district council", in relation to any tribal area, means the district council within whose area the tribal area is situated;
"grant" in Part IV, includes any disposition of land under the common law, and includes a grant of ownership or of lease;
"land" means land in a tribal area and subject to the provisions of the Mines and Minerals Act (Cap. 66:01), the<CS:"Hidden - Grey - 8_2"> Water Act (Cap. 34:01) and the Mineral Rights in Tribal Territories Act (Cap. 66:02) includes any interest in land and anything which is either artificially or naturally attached to the land and which, by operation of the common law, accedes to it;
"land board" means a land board established under section 3, and "the land board" in relation to any area of land means the land board for the area in which that area of land is situated;
[14 of 1993, s. 2(c).]
"land board officer" means a person in the land board service;
[24 of 2004, s. 2.]
"land board service" means the land board service covering all persons employed by and receiving salary or wages from a land board;
[24 of 2004, s. 2.]
"lease" includes any agreement—
(a) whereby the right to occupy land for a determined or determinable period of time is conferred;
(b) whereby permission, terminable at the will of the grantor, to occupy land is conferred,
whether or not any consideration is payable for such right or permission;
"member", except in section 35, means a member of a land board but does not include a person co-opted under section 5;
"public officer" shall have the same meaning as in the Constitution;
[24 of 2004, s. 2.]
"subordinate land authority" ...;
[14 of 1993, s. 2(d).]
"subordinate land board" means a subordinate land board established under section 19;
"tribal area" means—
(a) every tribal territory as defined in section 2 of the Bogosi Act (Cap. 41:01); and
(b) the areas defined in the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Schedules;
"tribesman" ...
[14 of 1993, s. 2(d).]
PART II
Land Boards (ss 3-11)
3. Establishment of land boards
(1) There is hereby established in respect of every tribal area set out in the first column of the First Schedule a land board having the name or title set out in relation thereto in the second column thereof.
[14 of 1993, s. 3.]
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, the membership of each land board and the period of office of members elected or appointed thereto shall be as provided in the third column of the First Schedule in relation thereto.
[14 of 1993, s. 3.]
(3) A person shall be disqualified from being appointed as a member of a land board or from continuing as a member of the following grounds—
(a) he has been declared insolvent or adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in Botswana or elsewhere and has not been discharged, or has made a composition with his creditors and has not paid his debts in full;
(b) has been sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine for any offence, whether in Botswana or elsewhere;
(c) he is certified to be insane or otherwise adjudged or declared to be of unsound mind under any law for the time being in force in Botswana;
(d) he is a member of the National Assembly or the Ntlo ya Dikgosi;
(e) he holds any public office, or is acting in any public office by virtue of a contract of service expressed to continue for a period exceeding six months.
[14 of 1993, s. 3.]
(4) A land board may perform the functions vested in it under this Act or under any other law, notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership.
[14 of 1993, s. 3.]
(5) The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, amend any of the entries set out in the third column of the First Schedule in order to vary the membership of any land board or the period of office of members thereof.
[14 of 1993, s. 3.]
(1) If any member of a land board, other than an ex-officio member, is temporarily unable to exercise the functions of his office, whether by reason of illness, absence or other cause, the person or authority who appointed or elected such member may appoint or elect a temporary member to exercise such member's functions during the period of his incapacity.
(2) An appointment or election made under subsection (1) shall cease to have effect if the person or authority who made the same notifies the temporary member of the revocation of such appointment or election, or if the member in whose place the temporary member has been appointed or elected notifies such person that he is about to resume or has resumed his functions, or that member vacates his office by virtue of the provisions of section 6.
(1) A land board may, with the approval of the Minister, co-opt not more than two persons with suitable expert knowledge or experience to assist the board in the discharge of its functions.
(2) Persons so co-opted may attend any meeting of the land board and at such meeting may speak but may not vote.
(1) A member, not being an ex-officio member, may at any time resign his office by notice in writing addressed to the Minister and, on receipt of such notice by the Minister, the office of the member shall become vacant.
(2) The office of a member other than an ex-officio member shall become vacant if—
(a) circumstances arise under which, if he were not a member of a land board, he would be disqualified in terms of section 3(4) from being appointed as a member of the board; or
(b) he is required to vacate his office under subsection (3).
(3) The Minister may by notice in writing require any member, other than an ex-officio member, to vacate his office, if, after giving such member an opportunity to be heard, the Minister, after consulting the appropriate district council, is satisfied that such member—
(a) has been absent from three consecutive meetings of the land board without leave of absence granted by the board;
[14 of 1993, s. 4.]
(b) is unable to exercise the functions of his office by reason of illness, absence or other cause and has been, or is likely to be, so unable for a period exceeding six months; or
(c) is otherwise unfit to discharge the functions of his office.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to any regulation made under the provisions of section 37, a land board may regulate its own procedure:
Provided that no grant of land shall be of any effect unless the land board by resolution approves such grant and a record of the substance of such resolution is recorded in the minutes of the meeting at which the resolution was passed.
(2) Half of the number of members of a land board shall constitute a quorum thereof, but where the number of members is uneven, a majority of that number of members shall constitute a quorum.
[14 of 1993, s. 5.]
(3) An administrative officer may attend any meeting of a land board and at such meeting may speak but may not vote.
(4) Decisions of the land board shall be taken by a majority of the votes of members present and voting, the chairman having both an original and, in the event of an equality of votes, a casting vote.
(5) If any member present at a meeting of a land board has any pecuniary or other interest, direct or indirect, in any matter under discussion, or is the husband, father, grandfather, son, grandson, brother, father-in-law, brother-in-law or son-in-law of any person seeking a grant from the board he shall disclose the fact and, if the chairman or other member presiding so directs, he shall withdraw from the meeting during such discussion or refrain from discussion of, or voting on, the matter.
[24 of 2004, s. 3.]
9. Land boards to be bodies corporate
(1) A land board shall be a body corporate capable of suing and being sued in its own name.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act a land board shall have power to do anything and enter into any transaction which in its opinion is calculated to facilitate the proper discharge of any function conferred or imposed upon it under this Act or any other law, or which is incidental or conducive thereto.
10. Vesting of tribal land in land boards
(1) All the rights and title to land in each tribal area listed in the first column of the First Schedule shall vest in the land board set out in relation to it in the second column of the Schedule in trust for the benefit and advantage of the citizens of Botswana and for the purpose of promoting the economic and social development of all the peoples of Botswana.
[14 of 1993, s. 7(a).]
(2) ...
[14 of 1993, s. 7(b).]
(1) A land board shall consult the district council in the formulation of policy relating to the exercise of its functions under this Act.
(2) The President may give to any land board directions of a general or specific character and that land board shall give effect to any such directions.
PART IIA - PART IIF
...
[30 of 2008, s. 66(d).]
PART III
Grant of Customary Land Rights (ss 12-21)
The provisions of this Part shall apply in relation to the granting, variation and determination of customary forms of tenure of land.
13. Functions of land boards in relation to customary tenure
(1) All the powers previously vested in a Chief and a subordinate land authority under customary law in relation to land, including—
(a) the granting of rights to use any land;
(b) the cancellation of the grant of any rights to use any land;
(c) the imposition of restrictions on the use of tribal land;
(d) authorising any change of user of tribal land; or
(e) authorising any transfer of tribal land,
shall vest in and be performed by a land board acting in accordance with powers conferred on it by or under this Act.
[14 of 1993, s. 8.]
(2) A land board may hear an appeal from any decision of a subordinate land board in respect of any of its functions conferred on such subordinate land board.
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