Scheming criminals wreak havoc in Gaborone

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Friday September 7, 2007 00:00

 

According to recent newspaper reports, a 24 year-old teacher was stoned to death by a group of thugs at a popular revellers' venue in Gaborone West last weekend.
In another incident, two young women were gang-raped near Red Dot Bar, another favourite place for night revellers.

When Mmegi asked Kaizer Sibanda of Ginger in Gaborone what he thought of the crime situation in places like clubs, pubs and bars in the city, especially at night, he said although he does not condone crime, he has noted that some people attract muggers by flaunting their money and cellphones in public places. 'As for me, to avoid being a victim, I always take just the right amount for the night when I go out.

I also arrange with a cab to drop me off and pick me up at specific times,' Sibanda said.
Ephraim Keoreng, an entertainment editor with one of the local newspapers, says he has also noted that there is a surge in the crime rate at entertainment places at night and that those who are most vulnerable are people who do not have their own transport.
 'At one point, my friends and I had to rescue a couple that was being attacked by criminals near the Zebras Club in Mogoditshane,' said Keoreng, who expressed concern that show-organisers are more concerned with securing the inside of their venues than the outside.

The Assistant Superintendent Gorutwang Odumetse of Gaborone West Police Station agreed that the rate of crime is rising in the city. He said in his precinct, criminals waylay unsuspecting residents who take 'short cuts' through soccer fields and passages.

'We have tried to deploy our officers in the places where people are always mugged, but these criminals know their game very well. Whenever the police are out on patrol, they hide; but once the police leave, they come out to strike,' Odumetse said. He complained that the Botswana Police Service is understaffed, adding that 'the scheming criminals take advantage of this.' But nothing will deter the police from their war on crime, Odumetse said.