Following the recognition and incorporation of five settlements within North West District through a presidential directive, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has since deferred the recognition of four settlements located within the Okavango delta which include Quqao, Ditshiping, Daunara, and Xaxaba.
The issue of these four settlements, has seen councilors endorsing a proposal to declare them into community conservancy villages during a full council meeting in December 2023. Their view was that the model would specifically address issues faced by the communities and uplift their social cohesion.
Differing the recognition, the ministry is said to have indicated that it will be exploring the concept of conservancy village model. Conservancies are legally recognised, geographically defined areas established by communities united to manage and benefit from wildlife and natural resources. The main income streams for community conservancies are photographic and hunting tourism, and each conservancy has a land use management plan.
Recognised settlements include Mochaba which will be incorporated into Shorobe village as a ward, Mapororo to be incorporated into Semboyo village as a ward, Qweexwa to be incorporated into Komana and declared an agricultural production zone. Other settlements are Xhana which will be incorporated into Makalamabedi while Sexaxa will be moved from Maun and incorporated to Matlapana village as a ward.
This was revealed by North West District Council (NWDC) Secretary Thatayotlhe Balapi recently during a full council meeting indicating that the conservancy model will empower rural communities to decide on the use of natural resources.
He further emphasised that the concept is in line with the aims of the Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBMRM) program of achieving biodiversity and sustainable use of natural resources.
For the newly approved settlements, Balapi indicated that responsible ministries have been urged to prioritise planning and the provision of resources for the settlements in the National Development Plan.
Bojanala councilor Luke Motlaleselelo advised the ministry to familiarise itself with the conservancy model through benchmarking with countries which are already using the model such as Kenya and Namibia before implementation.
He further emphasised that there should be consultations with the affected communities in order to apprise them on the new model.
Sankoyo/Shorobe councilor Oabile Chombo who also applauded the ministry for acceding to their request urged relevant departments to speed up provision of necessary basic services such as provision of water and allocation of land.
