Masunga police jail phane harvesters
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Tuesday April 7, 2020 22:55
So far, they have arrested some people harvesting mophane worms or caterpillars who instead of adhering to the State of Emergency call have violated regulations that have placed the nation under an ongoing 28-day lockdown in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic within borders.
Masunga police station commander superintendent Gaolathe Ngayaya told MmegiOnline that people who do not follow the instructions to stay home so that they can protect themselves and others, bother them.
She said that some of the individuals in their policing area have continued to stay outdoors harvesting mophane worms even though it is against the law.
She revealed that on Sunday they forced about five mophane worm harvesters near Sekakangwe village to return home.
The police boss said that to their surprise the mophane harvesters understood the consequences of disobeying the law and the reason for COVID-19 lockdown.
She added: “People just take COVID-19 for granted and we made them understand that if they disobey they law again they will be punished”.
She also raised a concern about some bar owners, who continue to sell alcohol despite the government decision to close bars across the country.
Ngayaya said that they have registered three cases of bar owners in different villages within their policing area who were selling alcohol illegally.
She said that the bar owners were charged with failure to comply with the new regulations and each of them paid a fine for admission of guilt.
The top police was also worried about the number of people who go to Masunga Choppies retail outlet in order to purchase essentials.
She added: “The reason why most people in our policing area go to Masunga village Choppies Superstore to purchase essentials, is because they do not have shops in their villages”.
She further explained that their policing areas covers about 22 villages of which majority are underdeveloped hence forcing the villagers to travel as far as Masunga Choppies Super store to buy essentials such as food and toiletry.
On another matter, Masunga station commander said that since April 2, 2020 they have recorded seven cases of border jumpers travelling from Zimbabwe into Botswana.
Ngayaya said that the illegal immigrants use ungazetted points of entry along some villages within their policing area.
She said that they have deployed police officers to patrol along the villages near the Botswana-Zimbabwe borderline.