Police to charge defaulters
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Thursday April 14, 2016 14:50
The department imposed the ban on Tuesday following a suspected incursion of buffaloes at Moreane crush in Lotlhakane East, near Kanye.
The suspicion arose after authorities spotted, shot and killed one buffalo in the area.
As a result, veterinary authorities banned the movement of cloven-hoofed animals into, out of and within the districts of Southern, Kgatleng, South East and Kweneng; slaughter of cloven-hoofed animals in zone 11 is also banned as a precautionary disease control measure.
Police spokesperson, Dipheko Motube, told journalists yesterday that Police partnered with the departments of Veterinary Services and Wildlife and National Parks to ensure that people adhered to the ban.
Motube warned that people who violate the ban might face criminal charges.
“At the moment it is not important to say what action will be taken against perpetrators but rather focusing on public education and campaigns to educate the public about this situation,” he said. “But relevant statutes will be invoked to charge those who don’t comply.”
He said people should adhere to veterinary advice so that they do not expose Botswana’s economy to risk. He also warned that the effect of violating the ban would be immense on the economy.
Motube also said police were ready to deal with the situation. Patrol teams had been assigned to look for other buffaloes in the area. He added that police were devising strategies of dealing with butcheries that infringe the ban.