Curfew Delinquents Overwhelm Gamodubu roadblock

Pini Bothoko | Monday February 1, 2021 15:54

This was revealed to The Monitor by officer commanding, senior superintendent Modise Gabatshwane in an interview. He stated that Batswana do not respect the set times and they encounter multitudes of people who advance various reasons every evening. Gabatshwane stated that it appears that the majority of Batswana still take the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) lightly because they do not want to follow curfew time restrictions.

“We are overwhelmed and I think it is deliberate because when the curfew restriction time was from 7pm they used to flock the roadblock in numbers from 7:30pm, but since the time has been moved to 8pm they arrive from 8:30pm to 9pm. We are concerned by the continued lack of adherence to COVID-19 health and safety protocols amongst citizens,” he said.

Gabatshwane said with what they have observed it is clear that people have suddenly forgotten about the virus despite the rising numbers of infection. He feared people’s behaviour could pose a challenge in the management of the virus, as it could cause a significant rise in positive cases. Gabatshwane revealed that even though he did not have the statistics at the time of the interview, they have charged many people for failing to obey the curfew time restrictions. The police boss said they charge people a fine for admission of guilt and they will wait until 4am when the curfew is over.

“It appears like we are being cruel to people, but the law is clear: no movement is allowed after 8pm. It appears as if life is just normal for most people because their reasons are always the same. They will claim to have visited the farm and their cars encountered mechanical faults, (or) they had travelled to Gaborone because another family member was sick to mention but a few. There is a lot of movement after 8pm, some people use unpopular roads to drive or walk within villages,” he said.

Gabatshwane warned members of the public to refrain from disobeying the curfew and COVID-19 protocols because they are in place for a reason. He said if people could consider joining hands with the government to fight the spread of the virus they would save lives.

Sharing the same sentiments of lack of adherence to the curfew and COVID-19 protocols, Thamaga Police Station commander, superintendent Moses Kwarare said they continue to charge people who are in the habit of gathering, not wearing their facemasks, and do not socially distance.