Member of Parliament (MP) for Francistown West Constituency Ignatius Moswane has been charged and found guilty of insulting a traffic police officer Thebeyame Lebogang while on duty.
The high court has ordered Moswaane to pay Lebogang an amount of P80 000 in damages.
According to court records, Lebogang on l 21st of July 2019 attended an accident that had occurred at Monarch area in Francistown in which three children sustained injuries.
Lebogang and a special constable witness attended to the accident by virtue of being traffic officers. Court’s records state that upon arrival at the scene, Lebogang and his companion were met by a crowd of people.
It is said that the traffic officers assessed the accident scene and interviewed the driver and others for purposes of appreciating how the accident occurred. Thereafter, Lebogang advised that his motor vehicle be towed to central police station for further investigations.
After completing the investigations of the scene, one of the traffic officers went to Area W clinic where three children that were involved in the accident were taken for medical attention.
It is further said that Lebogang then consulted with the medical doctor who attended to the three victims of the accident. Whilst at the clinic Moswaane arrived.
The court records indicate that a crowd gathered at the clinic asking to know about the status of the three victims of the accident.
Thereupon someone from the crowd asked about the whereabouts of the motor vehicle that was involved in the accident.
Lebogang responded to the enquiry by explaining that he had instructed the driver to cause the motor vehicle involved to be ferried to central police station in Francistown for further investigations. Lebogang stated that he had blocked the tow truck driver from moving from the scene.
Disconcerted by Moswaane’s apparent interference with investigations, Lebogang enquired from the MP as to his reason for blocking the tow truck from moving the motor vehicle. In response he allegedly made the following utterances: “You take bribes together with people involved in the business of towing motor vehicles. You are rotten. You are a thief and the people of Zazuru tribe are your accomplices.”
Court records reveal that Lebogang decried how offensive Moswaane’s derogatory statements were to him and pleaded with Moswaane to withdraw them.
Moswaane allegedly failed to retract the words but rather added the salt to the injury by uttering the following “frack you, you don’t know whom you are dealing with, I am advocating for the rights of my constituents.”
Lebogang is said to have not reacted to the aforementioned utterances and opted to vacate the clinic premises and proceeded to go back to the scene of the accident to continue with the investigation.
On the 4th of June 2021 the high court of Lobatse issued an order that Moswaane should pay Lebohang the sum of P80 000 in damages. Initially, Lebogang had submitted that he wanted P150 000 in damages.
