In their latest weekly report, Botswana Police have raised concern over foreigners who work without relevant work permits.
The police singled out the transport industry, in particular.
“Botswana Police is concerned about bus operators who employ non-citizens as drivers, conductors and inspectors without work permits,” the police say in the weekly report.
The concern comes after they arrested and charged a number of foreigners for working in Botswana without work permits. They said that since the beginning of the year, Dibete Police charged a total of 10 foreign bus drivers, four conductors and one bus inspector for working in Botswana without relevant documents.
The police stated that most of the foreigners were arrested in buses operating between Botswana and Zimbabwe  along the A1 Highway, adding that the foreigners were mainly Zimbabwean nationals hired by local bus operators.
“In Botswana territory, the buses should operate within our laws because we are a republic and are independent,” said Botswana Police’s Public Relations Officer, Assistant Commissioner, Christopher Mbulawa, who added that the right people to address the issue are those in the Transport Department because they, as the police, only enforce the law.
Some Police who did not want to be identified stated that most often, they work on the roads with officers from the transport department as one unit but think the Department of Transport could be lagging behind because of the system they use.
They indicated that their colleagues at Transport department do not have enough resources, citing the issue of their frequently running out of some forms they need.
“If the Transport Department does not improve, there is no way we, the police, could better the situation,” said one policeman.
