MOLEPOLOLE: The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund’s second Men’s Road Safety Pitso was held here on Friday under the theme, “Borra, Imagine Life Without You!”, with men called on to take greater responsibility behind the wheel.
The Pitso is a community engagement platform that brings men together to address road safety and challenge risky behaviours on the road. Its objective is to help reduce road crashes and fatalities by promoting safer driving practices. Delivering a keynote address, Director of Public Prosecutions Kgosietsile Ngakaagae revealed shocking statistics that between 2021 and 2025, Botswana lost 1, 887 people on the roads. The chief prosecutor stated that of those who perished, 1, 349 were men, representing 71% of the fatalities during the period. “For every 10 people we lost on our roads during this period, approximately seven were men,” Ngakaagae said. Behind each figure, he reminded the gathering that stood a father, husband, son or provider whose absence could push a family into poverty and rob a community of a productive citizen.
However, he rejected the easy explanation that more male drivers simply produce more male deaths, noting that drivers make up only about 28% of annual road fatalities. Many of the men who lose their lives are passengers, pedestrians and cyclists. The deeper problem, he said, lies in attitudes to risk that surface elsewhere as crime, gender-based violence and suicide. MVA Fund data showed that men are more likely to drive after drinking (25.6% versus 17.7% of women) and to speed (61% versus 49.4%). Seatbelt usage lagged badly with only 57.7% of observed men buckling up when compared with 78.5% of women. Earlier, MVA Fund’s Acting General Manager Corporate Services Tshepiso Mmoloke thanked Bakwena Kgosikgolo Kgari Sechele III for hosting the pitso for a second year.
Mmoloke stressed that losing men carries heavy social and economic costs, calling on men to correct, build and conduct themselves properly on the roads. “A ko re itekeng, re ikgalemele, re ikage,” he advised them.The P300 million that the MVA Fund spends yearly on claims is only part of the national burden. The pitso was no mere talk shop. Organisers framed it as a turning point: a place to revisit last year’s pledges, hold one another accountable, and carry the message from the kgotla into vehicles, workplaces and homes.
As the gathering closed, the challenge lingered. Imagine life without you. Then drive as if that life matters. The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund’s second Men’s Road Safety Pitso, which was timed ahead of the Dithubaruba Cultural Festival, carried a stark theme: “Borra, Imagine Life Without You!”
