Men account for 71% of road deaths in five years
Kabelo Boranabi | Tuesday September 8, 2026 06:00
According to statistics from the Botswana Police Service cited by Bamangwato chief, Kgosi Khama IV, 1,340 men died in road crashes in the five years compared to 537 women.
The figures have prompted calls for men to confront what stakeholders described as dangerous behaviour behind the wheel. Speaking at the pitso held at the Palapye Main Kgotla on Friday, Khama said the statistics demonstrated a serious discipline problem amongst male motorists.
“We are not saying that women should equal men because women are more than us in the country. We are saying this shows that us men, when we get very loose behind the wheel, we lack discipline,” he said.
Kgosi Khama IV pointed to speeding, alcohol abuse, and failure to wear seat belts as some of the behaviours requiring urgent attention. He said men were also disproportionately represented amongst those driving above the legal alcohol limit. The figures for 2025 were similarly stark. Of the 328 people who died in road crashes last year, 233 were men, and 95 were women, meaning men accounted for about 71% of the fatalities. Khama used the figures to draw an unusual comparison with another cause of deaths frequently discussed in Botswana, elephants.
He said there had been calls for elephant numbers to be reduced because of human deaths caused by wildlife, but noted that elephants were responsible for only five deaths last year compared with 328 road fatalities.
“Wildlife is harder to control than a human being,” Khama said, arguing that motorists have the ability to control their own behaviour.
“There is the Road Traffic Act, there is the rule of law, but there is no rule of law for how elephants move.”
The chief said the high number of male deaths was particularly concerning because men and women lost in road crashes form part of the country's labour force and provide essential services.
“If we lose providers in the family, both men and women, we are likely to suffer,” he said. The MVA Fund CEO Michael Tlhagwane said the annual statistics showed that men generally accounted for around 70% of road fatalities. He said the loss of men had implications beyond the immediate tragedy, potentially affecting household incomes, children's upbringing, and the national economy.
The pitso brought together traditional and community leaders, police, psychologists, health practitioners, road safety officials, and a crash survivor to examine the behavioural and psychosocial factors behind road crashes. Experts identified recklessness, fatigue, alcohol abuse, and disregard for road safety rules amongst factors contributing to crashes.
One survivor, who has spent five years using a wheelchair following a road crash, attributed his injuries to alcohol abuse and reckless behaviour. The Palapye Tribal Administration representative, Kgosi Amigo Nthebolang, said the men's-only engagement was not intended to exclude women from the road safety conversation, but rather to confront the group most heavily represented in crash statistics.
He said the large turnout at the Kgotla showed that men were willing to engage with the problem. The Palapye meeting was the sixth Men's Road Safety Pitso convened by the MVA Fund since 2024, following similar engagements in Gaborone, Kanye, Maun, Francistown, and Molepolole.
The initiative seeks to move the road safety conversation beyond enforcement and towards changing motorists' attitudes and behaviour.