On Christmas night Gaborone West South MP Botsalo Ntuane left the comfort of his home to join the men and women in uniform on a patrol of the streets of his constituency.
The patrol team, which set off just after 11pm, was also joined by the Chairman of the Gaborone West neighbourhood watch committee, Mr Bickie Pule Kgosi and councillor for Mosekangwetse ward Mr Cobra Nthompe.
As the foot patrol team set off from Gaborone West Police Station, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary as the streets were as deserted as expected. Even the Shopping complex, though busy and noisy as usual wasn't as crowded as is usually the case. Only the revellers were more exited thanks to this widely celebrated day.
In a few minutes the team came comes across two people sitting outside the yard opposite Maikano CJSS and the cops went to investigate. “Aren't you afraid that you might be attacked by thugs?” one of the policemen asked.
“No I am home,” answered the man.
“Where is home? In town you can't say you are home when you are outside the yard,” reasoned the cop.
“Here in this yard,” the man responded indicating the yard he was sitting in front of. The police then took his particulars and the patrol carried on. A couple was later found sitting outside and their particulars were also taken.
A man found waiting outside a yard by his Corolla car was also quizzed and his particulars taken. The cops and soldiers also went around the car to make sure that the registration numbers were matching both in front and at the back and that they matched the transport levy disc. Constable Tlale Tlale explained that sometimes they came across cars with registration plate numbers not matching the information on the disc.
“When that happens we know that they were going to use or they have already used the vehicle for something unlawful,” he said.
After that there was not much incident until we got back to the popular G-West spot which turns into a booze flea market by night causing the car parks to be full. Constable Tlale explained that most people who came to this complex did not even go into the two clubs situated at this location. “They stay outside drinking and playing music from their cars.”
The mood of the place was somewhat defiant as if some of the revellers felt they had to be excused since it was Christmas. Apart from the different songs playing in many different cars, there were cars all over and some had decided to park on pavements. The nocturnal site of the place was a total contrast from during the day.
The sergeant sent some of his men to block any vehicles that tried to enter the parking lots as he went around the cars with some of his men asking drivers to either switch off the music or turn it down.
Within a short moment most cars had either switched off their music or turned it down. One daring man earned himself a visit to the charge office when after the cops got him to switch off his music he defiantly turned it back on, louder.
Talking to The Voice at Gaborone West Police station, Ntuane said the exercise was a community participation initiative. “There is a lot of crime during the holidays and since I was in Gaborone I decided to join the police and the army as they patrol,” he said.
“The idea is that we should not leave this to the police alone. We also need community participation. We need volunteers to assist law enforcement agencies and this is my contribution to the cause of crime prevention.”
The legislator further said that the patrol gave him a chance to observe what the police and soldiers have to put up with while trying to prevent crime or apprehend criminals. “I also want to observe so that next time we meet as legislators I can propose to Government how to deal with this issue. We need hands on experience to see what these men and women go through especially during the festive season..
“I believe that this should also serve as a motivation for our community so that they can help the police especially during this period. If leaders like us MPs and councillors take part it would encourage the community. They have to protect themselves and their property instead of waiting for the government to do something about crime.”
Though he acknowledged that people needed to visit their loved ones during the festive season, Ntuane was worried that Batswana did not make adequate preparations for the safety of their homes and properties.
“That's why the government came up with initiatives like neighbourhood watch, but how many people participate in these activities? They don't even talk to the neighbours to watch their properties while they are away. We need to promote more community participation,” said the Leader of Opposition.
Committee Chairman for Gaborone West Cluster 1B, Mr Kgosi said; “Our job is to look after and make sure that all the structures beneath us are operational and helping them wherever needed like mobilising funds for them and ensuring they work well with the police.
“To raise funds committees gathered people to find ways of raising funds and they use the money in many ways like hiring security guards during the holidays. Some have hired full time security guards. Out of the nine cluster in my committee, two or three have full time security. These security guards patrol night and day. We raise funds in many ways such as contributions, and activities like dinners or family days. We contribute the ingredients.”
Kgosi said their voluntary crime fighter committee established in 2002 was the leading committee in Gaborone. “All other committees in Gaborone use us as a benchmark. In October we were with our counterparts from Central Police Station who had come to learn how clusters operate,” he said.
Meanwhile the crime statistics for the festive season have gone down in Gaborone West compared to the same time last year. On Christmas eve 21 case were recorded, which included common theft, street robbery, burglary, possession of stolen property, malicious damage to property, assault and unlawful wounding. Last year's Christmas eve 37 similar cases were recorded
On Christmas day there were only 12 cases. Last year 13 cases were recorded on Christmas day. On New year's eve 25 cases were recorded while the previous new year's eve had 28. There were no statistics for New year's day.
Acting Station Commander at the Gaborone West Police station, Assistant Superintendent Kebueng Hulela said the community policing initiative was helping keep crime down. He said the police could not be expected to fight crime alone and therefore he was grateful for such initiatives.
According to Hulela, Gaborone West Block 6 and Block 5 clusters were running an impressive operation. “They even had security guards on horseback,” he said
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