Festive 'lala vuka' saved youth's lives – Marathe
Pini Bothoko | Wednesday January 28, 2026 06:32
On December 19, 2025, the government gazetted the Liquor Amendment Regulations, 2025, allowing liquor outlets to operate from 10 am until 6 am the following morning. The regulations were effective from December 24, 2025, to January 4, 2026, covering all days of the week, including public holidays.
Reflecting on Operation Pabalesego II’s key achievements, including its impact on crime trends, public safety, and community confidence, Police Commissioner Dinah Marathe said the extended liquor operating hours played a positive role in discouraging drink-driving, particularly amongst the youth.
Marathe explained that in previous years, police recorded numerous fatal accidents involving young people who would have travelled long distances from villages to towns and cities in search of nightlife, often driving late at night whilst intoxicated.
“Since it was a new law, no major concerns were identified at the time despite noise to the people whose yards are situated next to bars. Besides that, the extension of hours saved the youth’s lives,' she said.
With bars operating until 6 am and almost every village now having liquor outlets, revellers did not need to travel long distances at night to access entertainment. As a result, many people drank and socialised within their local areas and retired to bed, instead of driving under the influence and being involved in fatal accidents,” she added.
Despite the police commending the initiative for reducing drink-driving-related incidents, the festive holidays report from the Botswana Police Service revealed that road fatalities increased slightly during the period under review. Fatalities rose from 29 recorded during the same period last year to 31 in the just-ended festive season, with most of the accidents occurring when people were travelling to celebrate the festive season with their family and friends.
Marathe said what was particularly concerning was that some of the fatal accidents involved family members travelling together. She cited incidents in which a family of six and another family of four all perished in separate road crashes, urging the public to avoid travelling as whole families.
However, the report also showed a reduction in fatal accident cases, which declined from 28 to 18 during this festive season.
Meanwhile, traffic law violations increased significantly. Failure to obey traffic lights cases rose from 436 to 743, while failure to wear seat belts increased from 1,614 to 2,099. Use of mobile phones while driving went up from 245 to 592 cases, and drunken driving incidents increased from 447 to 542.
However, in the recent reports, the Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Tiroyaone Ntsima, indicated that the government, through his ministry, was still assessing the overall impact of the amended liquor trading hours during the festive period, and that findings will be shared once data analysis is complete.
In addition, Parliament is expected to table a bill on the proposed 24-hour economy, which will focus on the broader retail sector and complement extended liquor trading hours. The bill is expected to be presented during the July winter sitting of Parliament.