Phane harvesters’ disappearances worry police

Law enforcement officials say Batswana tend to concentrate more on collecting the worms from trees and paying little attention to their whereabouts, hence, they get lost. No.2 Officer Commanding, Senior Superintendent Paul Oketsang has urged phane harvesters to be cautious, adding it was very dangerous to get lost during this rainy season.

He said they have observed that people have been coming from other parts of the country for the harvesting season in the Central District and get lost easily whilst collecting phane because they don't know the area very well. As a result, Oketsang advised visiting phane harvesters to consider joining locals when they arrive at a certain area to avoid unnecessary disappearances. “We have been investigating five cases of people who had disappeared whilst harvesting phane in Serowe, Mmashoro, Tshimoyapula, and Serule outskirts. We have observed that people get lost easily because they aren't familiar with the area.