Crime so high lawmaker calls for night curfew
The country’s leadership has hinted at the possibility of introducing night curfews if the crime situation continues on its growth trajectory.
Police statistics show that the country recorded the highest number of house breaking and theft cases in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in the last three years.
In 2020, 2021 and 2022, Botswana has been recording less than 900 house breaking cases in the first quarter of each year. However, cases jumped to over a thousand in 2023.
In addition, there has been 543 cases of burglary and theft, 511 for store breaking and 349 cases of robbery. Moreover, cattle theft is also on the rise with 644 stock theft cases recorded, the highest in recent years.
Member of Parliament (MP) for Takatokwane, Friction Tshoganetso Leuwe said in his area, stock theft was the most common.
“There are instances where people wake up and find that their cattle are missing, it is bad. I believe the situation is made worse by the fact that the police are thin on the ground,” Leuwe said.
The MP urged the public to speak out against crime saying the community knows well the culprits that terrorise others but often choose not to report to the police.
He added that if the situation worsens, the country will also have to think hard about introducing night curfews in an effort to curb crime.
“Curfews can be effective. It was evident during the height of Covid-19 pandemic that crime had gone down because all were expected to be home late at night. Crime numbers began growing when people were allowed to move freely,” he said.
The police say the figures confirm that people have been getting attacked more often this year and that is why they have intensified crime curbing efforts in the country.
Members of the community are restless, they sleep with one eye open, fearing that they will get attacked in their sleep. Some are fed up with the thieves and are baying for blood, they vow to eliminate thieves by any means necessary, and do not rule out killing.
This is why many openly celebrated when 62-year old Frank Masheto of Manamakgota ward in Mochudi shot and killed 30-year-old Tlamelo Ratsatsi for intruding in his home a few weeks back.
Howevere, MP for Mahalapye West David Tshere believes that night curfews should be the very last option. He does not really support curfews because people’s movements will be curtailed and that will come with dire economic consequences.
“I just wish Batswana can work with the police on crime issues, the situation is bad but we can find other alternatives. Crime is an ongoing thing. Curfew was effective with Covid-19 but with crime it will be hard”, he said.
Tshere said he has been holding Kgotla meetings in his area and one of the things he picked is that the youth are into drugs, which leads some to rob and attack people for money to buy the drugs.
MP for Palapye Onneetse Ramogapi said crime in the country is a result of people being unhappy.
Ramogapi is of the view that lack of employment is the biggest pain for Batswana, “They are killing themselves because they are not happy, they are killing others because they are angry,” he said.
He added that many Batswana are continuously losing jobs and government needs to look closely into the matter if the country wishes to expose the root cause of all ills.
He is worried that police and soldiers are not visible on the ground.
“What happened in Gaborone where a woman was killed at a women’s shelter should have been a wake up call. Women Shelter should be a safe place but where was security when the murder occurred? Why are we not seeing the police nearby at entertainment joints but that is where people get attacked? It is because there is not enough personnel,” Ramogapi wondered.