Crime worries Kazungula chief
Lebogang Mosikare | Wednesday August 7, 2019 15:52
In a wide-ranging interview with Mmegi on the sidelines of the opening of Sefalana Shopper store in Kazungula recently, Kgosi Mokwena Balemogeng of Kazungula said that cases of assault and related offences were rife.
Although he could not readily provide statistics to support his assertion, Balemogeng said in some unfortunate cases, people end up losing their lives after excessive alcohol drinking springs.
“We are very concerned about these cases which are mostly committed by the youths. They sometimes fail to restrain themselves when they are drunk which lead them to commit unnecessary crimes,” said a worried Balemogeng.
Asked how frequent tourists are affected by criminal activities in the resort of Kasane and other surrounding villages, Balemogeng stated that issues of crime in the Chobe District rarely affect tourists.
“The last time I heard about tourists falling prey to some criminal elements was a long time back. I don’t exactly remember that but what I can tell is that locals are very fond of tourists and they rarely dispossess them of their property,” said Balemogeng.
Meanwhile, Balemogeng said elephants are terrorizing members of the community almost on a daily basis.
“The elephants are giving people a hard time especially at night since we live in a tourist area. The issue of human-wildlife conflict is very real where we live. The elephants are very many hence they sometimes attack people,” said Balemogeng.
Rarely less than two days after the interview with Balemogeng, police in Kasane said that an elephant killed a security guard at one of the accommodation facilities in Kasane on Sunday.
In other related issues, Balemogeng stated that the village leadership is also concerned about the issue of commercial sex work in Kazungula that mostly happens near Kazungula bridge that is still under construction.
“Both local and foreign women are involved in this activity. Truck drivers who want to cross the border to neighbouring countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia mostly procure their services. Their actions are reversing our efforts to fight sexually transmitted diseases,” said Balemogeng.