Bakgatla royals escape P1.4m bill

Last week, Southern Regional Magistrate court convicted the five Bakgatla royals and two other men for vandalising a Botswana Power Corporation metre box and destroying a Mascom Wireless Company tower valued close to P1.4 million. 

According to the court, Mothibe Linchwe, Mmusi Kgafela, Bakgatle Kgafela, Segale Linchwe and Sekai Linchwe, all members of the Bakgatla royal family, strongly lobbied for the removal or destruction of the Mascom Wireless tower at a Kgotla meeting held in Mochudi in October 2009.  The State prosecutor Merapelo Mokgosi told court yesterday that after the conviction of Bakgatla royals, they approached the complainant being Mascom Wireless Company regarding their compensation for the damages caused on the tower.