Armed robberies resurface
Pini Bothoko | Monday September 4, 2023 10:09


Armed robberies in which criminals use guns have been common in some neighbouring countries. They ended up flowing into Botswana keeping police on their toes with weekly occurrences as robbers staged heists, overpowering security company guards and making away with large sums of money. For years, the country had experienced an upsurge in cases of robberies where in most cases firearms were used and thereby posing a danger to the lives of both members of the public and law enforcement officers.
Back in 2021 the country experienced a surge of cash-in-transit heists recording 15 incidents where security motor vehicles transporting cash were attacked at gunpoint and millions of pula were stolen.
Earlier this year, responding to a question in Parliament the Minister of Defence and Security, Kagiso Mmusi, revealed that they are yet to recover P17.5 million stolen in all heists since April 2018.
In terms of recorded cash-in-transit heists, Mmusi indicated that no incident was recorded in 2018, one was recorded in 2019, two incidents were recorded in 2020, 14 incidents were recorded in 2021, and six incidents in 2022. Concerning the ATM blasts, Mmusi said no incident was recorded in 2018 and 2020, two incidents were recorded in 2019, five in 2021, and nine in 2022 respectively.
These millions of pula were monies stolen in cash-in-transit heists, bank robberies, and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) blasts. Mmusi said cash stolen in all heists amounted to a total of P22.6 million and out of the stolen cash, they have since been able to recover P5.1 million only.
Pleased by the reduction in these incidents since the beginning of this year Minister Mmusi recently assured Parliament that his ministry was managing armed robbery incidents, especially cash-in-transit heists and ATM bombings due to concerted efforts by all law enforcement agencies led by the Botswana Police Service (BPS). He stated that in an attempt to fight increasing heist cases, law enforcement agencies collaborated with the private security industry and the banking sectors and came up with a comprehensive response plan, as demonstrated by the reduced number of incidents.
One would have thought that a bold statement that the defence minister had made last year instructing the police to do whatever it takes to eliminate petty criminals as people were living in constant fear even in the comfort of their homes and cars criminals would be afraid to stage robberies but that is not the case. Then, to show that the minister’s words fell on deaf ears, a week after the minister’s instruction, the police shot and killed 10 armed robbers at Phase 2, Gaborone after they robbed a Security Systems cash-in-transit motor vehicle of over P986,000. The money was transported to Bank of Baroda in the Main Mall.
Further illustrating that criminals do not care thereafter, strings of shootings followed with more and more armed robbers losing their lives in exchange of fire with the police. After sometime the robbery incidents went quite something that gave people and even the Defence Minister an impression that indeed armed robbery incidents were under control but that seems not to be the case anymore as they have since resurfaced. Two weeks ago, armed robbers resurfaced with another hit and robbed Oodi Choppies of money amounting to P60,810. Then, three unidentified masked men allegedly pounced on Oodi Choppies in an attack, and threatened workers with something that resembled a pistol around 7:30pm when the shop was about to close for business. This past Friday evening armed robbers entered Choppies store located in the Bobididi ward in Mogoditshane abruptly around 7:30pm just as the store was preparing to close, ordered everyone to lie down while they seized money amounting to P25,000 from all the tills. The four masked men also threatened Choppies workers with what appeared to be pistols, seized the money and fled the crime scene. In both cases, police are actively working to apprehend the suspects, who remain unidentified and at large.
To show that there was belief that indeed armed robbery incidents were under control, two weeks ago when appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Acting Police Commissioner, Phemelo Ramakorwane shared the same sentiments reassuring the nation that armed robbery incidents were under control.
He revealed that through Bankers Association Botswana, banks have plans to help the police curb cash-in-transit heists and ATM bombings as they are planning to donate unmarked cars that the police would use during their patrols and escorts of cash-in-transit vehicles. Despite police’s determination to fight this scourge robbers continue to wreak havoc as criminals continue to find their way into businesses and make off with large sums of money. Police have been warning the business community to be wary of gangs of armed robbers who appear to have mounted a spate of armed robberies particularly in and around Gaborone in a new wave that is targeting businesses.
They further advised the business community to consider depositing money at the bank throughout the day to avoid being robbed and losing large sums of money. Police feared such repeat occurrences are likely to affect the country’s economy in the long run as investors might fear to invest in Botswana as they are interested in investing in a crime-free peaceful country. However, some Batswana across social media platforms have been attributing the alarming rise in crime to the country’s high unemployment rate, especially amongst the youth of the same age group that has been identified as the perpetrators. Some Batswana urged that armed robberies were now a menace and that there was a need for re-training of police officers to deal with the scourge as armed robbers have become sophisticated and increasingly difficult to catch. One would agree that a well-planned crime prevention programme not only stops crime and robberies but it also fosters community safety. At the moment, members of the public have fear to neither drive nor pass near cash-in-transit vehicles because they could be attacked by armed criminals at anytime. It is even dangerous to go shopping late in the evening when shops are about to close because one could be caught in the crossfire. Forced by this trend G4S Botswana has since improved the security of its vehicles by adopting the latest technology to safeguard assets with a significant capital investment in new armoured vehicles and additional enhancement to the existing fleet.