Botswana Police deny allegations of shooting and beating of Bushmen at the CKGR

The Botswana Police officials have refuted recent allegations that ‘ nine bushmen have been subjected to violence by law enforcement officers as reported by the NGO Survival International, in a statement dated 11th August 2016.

This week, Senior Superintendent Dipheko Motube of the BPS has told The Midweek Sun in an interview that, never at any stage has a single gunshot been fired at Bushmen at the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). “There has in fact never been any occasion in which the Botswana Police have ever shot at people from a helicopter either at the CKGR or anywhere else,” he explained.

Nevertheless, Motube said they have recently found crime scenes at the game reserve, where 11 suspects were caught red handed with carcasses of game meat. “All the suspects were caught in different spots on different dates between July and August. On the 30th July, three suspects, were allegedly found with 2 carcasses of elands and three gemsboks,” he said.

He said that in July 31st, they found three more suspects in possession of three heads of elands, two heads of gemsbok and loads of fresh meat. Moreover, on August 5th, the police caught five suspects with a carcass of a giraffe, seven gemsboks and two elands, still in the CKGR. However, Motube clarified that even these culprits were never stripped nor beaten.