As petty crime continues to spiral out of control keeping police busy in Greater Gaborone, visiting SADC force members have been encouraged to be security cautious. Brigadier Oreeditse Tsamaase of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) gave the warning when welcoming members during the official opening of the SADC stand-by force field communication training exercise dubbed ‘Dipuisanyo’ in Oodi yesterday.
The week-long training exercise has attracted nine SADC member states being Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Namibia, DRC and Zambia with approximately 480 participants from the member states representing the military, police, correctional services and the civilian component.
Tsamaase stated that despite Batswana subscribing to the national principles of humanity, unity and tolerance which pave the way for a peaceful atmosphere and individual freedom, they cannot rule out the possibility of petty criminals. “I therefore urge you to be security cautious especially with your precious gadgets. Every community has those who make ends meet through snatching or forcefully obtaining and sometimes these ordeals may be gruesome especially when you resist,” he said. Tsamaase also urged members to be cautious and exercise restraint where possible but if cornered he advised them to submit and stay unharmed. He further applauded SADC for availing resources and manpower to stage the exercise as for the common good of their operatives who deploy within the SADC brigade mission structures.
