Livestock, particularly cattle, donkeys and goats, have overrun Gaborone and become commonplace on the capital’s roads, malls, office complexes and neighbourhoods. Everywhere, livestock roam freely, causing numerous accidents, some of them fatal, sullying the city with their dung, making it an eyesore and lowering the value of real estate for investors. Even in the sparkling, new Central Business District – the multi-million Pula region that is the diamond in Gaborone’s crown – livestock have again taken over, creating an unwanted dichotomy between urban and rural.
The drought and its devastating impact on pasture in farming areas around Gaborone is the chief factor behind this unprecedented invasion by livestock. Numerous reports suggest that smallholder farmers are actively herding their beasts into the capital, where pastures are significantly better. City fathers appear paralysed by the situation, judging from the debates taking place in the Gaborone City Council. Just last week, the mayor revealed that in the midst of this invasion, only 22 patrollers are at work restraining the livestock, and these only work between 6am and 6pm. For a city as broad as Gaborone, exclusively surrounded by small-scale farmers and their hungry beasts, the 22 patrollers are no match for the numbers crossing into Gaborone daily in search of pasture.
