Soldiers could join war against illegal sand miners

KEOBONYE MAJATSIE
Correspondent | Thursday January 27, 2011 00:00

 

Sources in Gaborone say if the request from the affected villages gets government approval, the soldiers will be posted at the Kumakwane and Ditlhakane farmlands to repel the illegal diggers who are motivated by the high demand for river sand. Kgosi Opelo Kgabo of Kumakwane confirmed in an interview that during a recent Kgotla meeting, they requested the relevant ministries that soldiers should be roped in to reinforce the police teams that patrol the areas.

'We are not saying the police are not doing a good job but we believe that they do not have enough resources to handle the situation, which is why we have pleaded with the authorities to bring in soldiers,' he said.He added that the pits left by illicit sand miners were dangerous to both people and livestock.

'These illegal sand miners have changed tactics. They no longer go there during the day but as soon as dusk sets in or even in the middle of the night,' he said.   He added that some of the illegal miners use spades to load the sand onto trucks instead of front-end loaders or bulldozers because it is raining and the sand has become easy to harvest.

'The suspects are both locals and foreigners. We believe that the authorities will heed our plea because this situation needs to be arrested as soon as possible,' he said.In 2009, a 17-year-old boy drowned in a burrow pit left by illegal sand miners at the Ditlhakane farmlands.At Kumakwane Kgotla last Friday at least six men carrying shovels were dragged into holding cells by the police. A police officer said after a tip-off from a resident, they pounced on the suspects while they were still busy excavating sand.

She added that the suspects could have fled the scene as they usually do, but they failed this time around because they were 'caught unawares by plain clothes officers'.Residents who gathered at the Kgotla said illegal mining activities were rife in Kweneng because prices for building sand had more than tripled following a boom in the construction industry and in the number of individuals developing residential plots. (Sila Press Agency)