The Botswana Police Commissioner, Thebeyame Tsimako, has revealed that despite efforts by the police to combat crime in the country, Mogoditshane continues to give the police a headache in terms of criminal activities as compared to other areas in Botswana.
Speaking during a police stakeholder meeting held in Francistown last week, he said that the town is a criminal haven where murder, fights and house-breakings are the order of the day.
“Crime in Botswana as compared to other countries is manageable, but there is only one place which continues to be of concern, that is Mogoditshane. The area is infested with criminal activities such as murder, robberies, house-breakings and theft,” he said.
Tsimako went on to say that one of the major reasons why the area is prone to criminal activities is because there is an influx of different nationalities in the area. He added that crime in Gaborone is also taking a different direction as hijacking of cars, robberies and house breakings are on the rise.
“Gaborone is also experiencing a high rise of crime, especially with the house breakings, car-jacking and robberies,” he said.
Touching on Francistown, the Police Commissioner said that Monarch and Satellite are the only locations that are highly affected by crime. Tsimako reminded the participants that criminal activities are bad for any country as they can blemish its image.
“You will find that most of these criminal activities are done by Batswana who connive with foreigners,” he said.
He pointed out that Asian businesspeople in the country are also the main target of criminals as they never deposit their money in banks but prefer to keep it in their houses. Tsimako revealed that efforts by the police to sensitize the Asian business communities to deposit or save money in banks continue to hit snags.
“The other major concern is that most of the Asian business people continue to keep their money in houses which makes them prone to criminals. We have always tried our best to advise them but they do not take our advice,” he said.
Tsimako pleaded with the communities to work together with the police in eradicating crime.
