The livestock discomfiture

Every morning and afternoon in urban areas across the country, an unsightly tradition plays itself out before the eyes of bemused tourists and investors, reinforcing whatever misconceptions they had about our modernity.

Groups of livestock, ranging from cattle to goats and even horses, roam about on now well-established routes, imperilling traffic in our shopping malls. There is, for instance, a well-established and growing tribe of goats that follows a route through Mogoditshane, Block 6 and nearly all the way to Game City! In Block 9, the patches of grass without a grazing snout are few and far between.

However, it is in Mogoditshane and Kweneng District in general that the nuisance of roaming livestock is more acute. Small stock in particular are a constant sight that the District Council has had enough of. According to its chairperson, the Council has moved to banish roaming livestock back to masimo and punish owners who allow them into any undesignated area. According to Leo Motlhophi in an article elsewhere in this edition, although consultations are presently ongoing with the various stakeholders, the local authority has decided that livestock should be driven back to grazing lands.

Editor's Comment
Let’s put the fight against crime in action

But as the conference concludes, Batswana must ask: Will this be another talk shop, or will it spark real change? The answer lies in whether every stakeholder, from the President to community leaders, transforms rhetoric into action.The President rightly highlighted that crime, especially GBV, thrives in private spaces. His call to empower churches and counsellors as early warning systems is sensible. But good ideas mean little without funding...

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