Gaborone Rifle Club chairperson, Jon Smuts, noted shooting is a relatively new sport in the country and urged people not to be intimidated by firearms. He explained that the sport involves the use of proper firearms and live ammunition under controlled conditions. Smuts described shooting as an untapped sport and said the club and its members are working towards registering the Shooting Society of Botswana. He added that they had engaged the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) for assistance and are making progress.
“We have shooters from Botswana competing in international competitions under South African colours, which is not good,” Smuts said in an interview with Sport Monitor on the sidelines of the Frank Jansen Memorial Shoot, held at Tshele Range in Rasesa. “We go there and win medals, and we could be doing that for Botswana, not South Africa,” he added. For his part, Brigadier David Nkete said they had approached the ROS in an effort to register an association. However, they were advised that, because they did not have the required 20 clubs, they would need to seek a waiver from the Minister of Home Affairs. “We had advanced reasons why we are failing to have 20 clubs, and we only have 13 clubs. We have requested a waiver from the Minister, but he has not responded since the beginning of the year,” Nkete said. On the memorial shoot, Smuts explained Jansen had been a member of the Gaborone Rifle Club for many years and had also served as its commandant.
