DJ Olopeng misleads revelers
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday January 5, 2016 18:00
The law enforcers say they never received any communication about the extended hours, which Olopeng had declared in his social media page that entertainment hours would, on specified dates, be extended to 2am.
On December 18th, Olopeng posted on his Facebook Page ‘Hon Thapelo Olopeng’ that, “To all fun lovers and music promoters.
Entertainment hours have been extended to 2am on the 23rd and 24th December. This is more at designated places, not in homes as it may cause issues with neighbours”. As he was declaring the extended hours, Olopeng was advertising a show he was hosting on December 24 in Tonota, whose revellers confirmed that they went all the way to 2am.
His post attracted over 600 ‘likes’ and 173 comments with fun lovers showing appreciation.
However, there were those who later commented on the same post stating that the police closed their shows and nightclubs earlier. On the December 28, Olopeng posted; “I hope you all celebrated Christmas responsibly. Entertainment time extension continues on the 30th and 31st December”. But one of the ‘friends’ to the group, who claimed to be “a law enforcer at City of Francistown”, stated in the post that the Minister was making it impossible for them to do their job, as there was no savingram or anything procedural to support the Olopeng’s utterances. In an ensuing exchange, Olopeng referred the individual to their superiors and their minister.In response to Mmegi enquiries, the Permanent Secretary at MTI Peggy Serame said they knew nothing about the extension of hours Olopeng was talking about. She however would not go into much detail as she said she was on leave.
The ministry issued a press statement on the December 12 confirming that the existing trading hours will remain in place, also urging traders to comply with the stipulated trading hours.
TheBotswana Police public relations officer, Dipheko Motube said they knew nothing about the extensions. “We as the Police never received anything concerning any extensions of entertainment hours, so we shut down and where necessary charged those who traded beyond stipulated times without permits,” he said.
Olopeng could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print as his mobile phone rang unanswered.