The Pan Afrikanist Watchman

Ten men were killed in the morning of Wednesday 23^rd February 2022 in Gaborone’s Phase 2 suburb following a Hollywood-like cops and robbers shootout that held the neighbourhood in tenterhooks for a spell of time.

The gunfire exchange at a house rented by a 21-year-old female and allegedly used as a safe house pitted the combined members of the Botswana Police and the Directorate on Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) against the daring 11 robbers.

When the gunfire died down the fatality count was eight and then it went up to nine, with the tenth robber only eliminated in the evening of the same day.

A statement from the Botswana police would later attribute the gunfire exchange to an earlier incident at the Main Mall in Gaborone, where an unescorted Security Systems cash-in-transit vehicle was attacked and the sum of P986 000, 00  stolen.

The police immediately pursued the robbers only to corner them at Phase 2 safe house. The robbers were identified as men of Botswana and South African origin between 20 and 35 years.

Four pistols and an AK-47 Assault Rifle were found in the robbers’ possession whilst a 30-year-old woman who was in their company has been arrested.

The gruesome ‘massacre’ is certainly a statement of intent from the Botswana police, whose boss, Police Commissioner Keabetswe Makgophe had earlier sent a chilling warning to parents of would-be robbers to tame their children, lest they get hurt.

Makgophe made it pretty clear that he has lost servicemen in some of the violent crimes and was no longer prepared to lose any, reminding further that he has sworn to defend and ensure the safety of all Batswana and citizens.

The police boss was himself mimicking a threat issued by Justice, Defense, and Security Minister Kagiso Mmusi during the 48^th Senior Officers conference, at which he had appealed to members of the security forces to do everything possible to eliminate crime in the country.

Mmusi’s utterances were inspired by a spate of smash and grab incidents by petty thieves and criminals who pounce on unsuspecting motorists at notorious street intersections as well as the uneasy security environment in the country with countless incidents of housebreakings, robberies, and runaway crimes of passion

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In fact, so out of control had the crime gone that even Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. Edwin Dikoloti was recently attacked in his car at the Ext. 27 traffic lights along the Nelson Mandela Road and lost his cellphone.

The spate of cash-in-transit heists erupted last year following the relaxation of the Covid-19 health protocols prompting the government to take the controversial decision to provide armed security escorts for cash-in-transit vehicles!

There is a real fear that the violent crimes are planned and executed by a cross-border syndicate of South Africans, Batswana, and Zimbabweans.

In South Africa in the same week, a gang of 25 men on a mission to rob a cash-in-transit vehicle was intercepted by police intelligence in Rosetenville culminating in a shootout in which eight of the robbers were killed, among which was a Motswana citizen and eight arrested.

The robbers were nationals of South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. Minister responsible for Police Bheki Cele also vowed to deal with criminals and to ensure peace and safety for the people of South Africa.