Peri-urban areas experience many land related problems and disputes because of ruralurban
migration and increasing demand in land. The purpose of this thesis is to identify
and describe the land problems and their related disputes that exist in two peri-urban
areas surrounding the capital of Botswana, Gaborone. Two land boards administering
these areas are studied in order to draw conclusions if there are any improvements that
can be made to make the administration of land more effective.
The methods used in this thesis include: a literature review on previous made research to
gain sufficient background and knowledge in the subject and a multiple case study to
identify the most occurring land problems and how these are handled in the villages of
Mogoditshane and Tlokweng. The case study included qualitative interviews with land
board officers and experts within the studied subject.
The result from the literature review and the case studies shows similar result when it
comes to land problems faced in Mogoditshane and Tlokweng. Common problems such
as illegal occupations and multiple transfers lead to disputes over the right to land. The
administration of handling these problems differ between the studied land boards as well
as the approaches to resolving disputes that arises. For instance in Tlokweng they patrol
the village in order to reveal illegal occupations. In the same land board they have also
adopted the approach with alternative dispute resolution to reduce number of disputes
entering the legal process.
It seems that one of the main causes for the land problems that occur in these areas is
poor record keeping. Besides the improvements regarding record keeping, that is already
in progress, this study has reached the conclusion that there are several measures that can
be taken to make the management of land problems and related disputes more effective.
The problem with shortage of land, which is another cause for land problems, could be
reduced by an effective and unanimous land allocation process. Further we believe that
by training both officers and board members in alternative dispute resolution methods and
adopting an approach to try to resolve disputes before becoming a legal matter, will
reduce costs as well as save time in the land administration.