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The Tati Concessions Land was a concession created in the borderlands of the Matabele kingdom and the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The concession was originally made by the Matabele King to Sir John Swinburne. It was administered from the Bechuanaland Protectorate after 1893, but after 1911 was formally annexed to it, finally becoming a statutory creature by its first piece of legislation, the Proclamation Number 2 of 1911 by the High Commissioner of Bechuanaland. It was locally administered by a Justice of the Peace.

The chief town of this region is Francistown, now one of Botswana's major settlements.

The latest act governing and regulating this Concession is that of the "Tati Concessions Land Act of 1970". The most controversial provision in this act can be found in Section 6, which states that The right to all minerals and precious stones under the land in the Tati District is reserved to the Tati Concessions, Limited, and also the right of prospecting for and working the same, ... The effect of this section is that mineral rights are bestowed unto this body, which is unlike other mineral rights in Botswana which are governed by Section 3 of the "Mines and Minerals Act of 1999" to the effect that all minerals within Botswana, with the exception of Tati Concessions, are the property of the Republic of Botswana.


 * CHRONOLOGY:
 * 1864: Gold is discovered by Europeans in Tati River area (Tati Goldfields), then part of the Matabele kingdom.
 * 1870: Concession granted to Sir John Swinburne's London and Limpopo Mining Company.
 * 1880 The concession was revoked for failure to pay the annual fee, and the concession was granted instead to the Northern Light Mining Company, a syndicate formed by Danial Francis, Samuel Howard Edwards (1827–1922) and others. The Northern Light Company was later renamed the Tati Concessions Ltd.
 * 1893: Tati Land was detached from Matabeleland and placed under the jurisdiction of the British Resident Commissioner of the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
 * January 21, 1911: Annexed to Bechuanaland (now Botswana) via the Tati Concessions Land Act, with a special agreement to preserve rights of access for Rhodesian Railways (now the National Railways of Zimbabwe).

The Tati Concessions, Limited was formed by Swinburne and given the right by the British Government to issue its own Revenue Stamps in 1896 for use on legal instruments. The Tati Concessions Limited ran into financial difficulties in 1914 and sold much of its land. The successor company, Tati Company, is registered in the United Kingdom. After the independence of Botswana in 1966, a deal was reached with the then Government of Botswana. Its exact land holdings today are not clear but remain controversial.

Notes and references

 * Sources
 * WorldStatesmen- Botswana
 * States and Regents of the World: Bechuanaland