Mother demands inquest into son’s police shooting
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday August 3, 2026 06:00
In an application filed before the High Court, Ponatshego Joseph through attorney Dr Tshepang Makwati is asking the court to compel the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the District Commissioner for Palapye District, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services and the Attorney General to ensure that a judicial inquest into the death of her son, Potso Joseph, is held without further delay. Joseph argues that despite the passage of almost three years since the fatal shooting on or about December 22, 2023, no inquest had been conducted and the family has not been informed of the progress of investigations or the circumstances that led to Potso's death. According to the founding affidavit, Potso was driving in Palapye with his fiancée, Keneilwe Sekopo, and their six-month-old daughter after leaving Kediretswe Clinic, where the baby had received medical attention.
The mother says the only account she has of what happened that night came from Sekopo because no government official has ever explained the circumstances surrounding the shooting. 'I must state at the onset that the only account I have of how my son was killed is from the account of his fiancée, who was with him on the night of the incident,' Joseph states in her affidavit. She further says neither the BPS nor any government official has sought to explain what transpired despite her repeated attempts to obtain answers. According to the affidavit, the couple was driving home when a police vehicle travelling in the opposite direction allegedly made a U-turn and followed them with its blue lights flashing, signalling Potso to stop. Joseph says her son complied and parked on the side of the road before getting out of his vehicle to attend to the officers. She alleges that before he had taken more than three steps, a gunshot rang out and he was struck in the head. 'The deceased fell in front of the police van's grille and as he lay in a pool of blood, the police officers did not immediately come out of the vehicle but remained in their seats as though nothing happened,' the affidavit states. Joseph further alleges that it was only after Sekopo got out of the vehicle carrying their infant child and screaming that the officers emerged from the police vehicle.
She claims the officers asked Sekopo to identify the deceased before placing his body in the back of the police van and transporting him to hospital, where he was later certified dead. The affidavit states that Potso left behind four minor children, including the baby who was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting. Joseph says the family's pain has been made worse by what she describes as official silence. 'Since the killing of my son, the Botswana Police Service have never given me any investigative report or an update of the circumstances leading to the death of the deceased although for the past three years they claimed to be investigating,' she states.
The says she served a statutory notice on the Attorney General in February this year complaining about the failure to institute an inquest, but claims she never received a response. 'To date I remain in the dark about the circumstances surrounding my son's death,' she states. Joseph further alleges that no State official has ever met her to explain the investigations or what action, if any, has been taken against the officers involved. 'I would have expected to be informed of any measures that have been put in place or will be put in place to commence a formal inquiry, but all I have received is silence,' she says. According to the affidavit, Sekopo was called to Palapye Police Station earlier this year to testify during what she was told was an internal disciplinary hearing involving the officers allegedly responsible for the shooting. However, Joseph says neither she nor Sekopo has since been informed of the outcome of those proceedings. The application argues that the Inquests Act places a legal obligation on the relevant authorities to ensure that deaths arising from unnatural causes, particularly those involving law enforcement officers, are referred for judicial inquests.
Joseph says no such process has been initiated despite repeated requests for information. She further argues that the prolonged delay amounts to a violation of her family's constitutional rights and has subjected them to continuing emotional suffering. 'The neglect or refusal of the Respondents to institute proceedings to promptly investigate the death of the deceased and launch a judicial inquest has subjected my family and I to untold mental anguish and pain,' she states. In the application, Joseph wants the High Court to direct the Commissioner of Police, the DPP and the District Commissioner to take all necessary steps to refer the matter for a judicial inquest within specified time frames.
She also seeks an order compelling police to finalise investigations, furnish the docket to the DPP and provide her with a written update on the investigations already conducted. In addition, she asks the court to declare that the respondents' alleged failure to investigate the death, institute an inquest and respond to her requests violates her rights to equal protection of the law, human dignity and freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.