University of Botswana Law Journal - PULP

177
RECENT LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
LESOTHO
Q. Letsika*
L. Kometsi**
1. ACTS OF PARLIAMENT
1.1 LAND ACT NO. 42 OF 2010
The preamble of the Act sets out the main objectives of the Act as being to
provide for the grant of titles to land and conversion of titles to land, the better
securing of titles to land and its administration. Section 4 provides that all land
is vested in the Basotho nation. Section 6 sets out qualifications of persons
entitled to hold title to land. These include foreign enterprises for investment
purposes but Basotho must hold at least 20% interest in such an enterprise,
companies and partnerships wholly owned by Basotho and societies in their
different forms, international organisations for which Lesotho enjoys similar
reciprocity for purposes relevant to their activities and citizens of Lesotho.
Section 9 introduces a new form of title to land, namely sectional titles. The
right to sectional titles are enjoyed in a unit within a complex or building
without necessarily exclusively holding title to land on which the complex or
building is attached. Section 10 creates the presumption of joint titles in as far
as marriages in community of property are concerned.
The Act provides for the institutional framework for administration
of land. Section 11 establishes the office of the commissioner of lands. The
functions of the commissioner include the administration of land by keeping
accurate information and records, resolution of disputes relating to land,
levying of taxes on land and granting of consent to transactions relating to
land (Section 12).
In terms of section 14 allocation and revocation of land in the rural
areas are made by local councils in consultation with the chief both of whom
must have jurisdiction in the area. If the land allocated is to be used for
commercial or industrial purposes the local council is obliged to refer the
application for a grant of title to the District Council first. A person allocated
residential and agricultural land in a rural area is entitled to apply for a lease in
respect of that land (Sections 16 and 18). The commissioner of lands is
entitled to refuse to grant a lease if the land is not used in accordance with an
approved development scheme. If the refusal to grant a lease is based on the
* B.A., LL.B (Lesotho), LL.M. (Natal) Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, National University of Lesotho.
** B.A., LL.B (Lesotho), LL.M (Manchester) Lecturer, Faculty of Law, National University of Lesotho.