25 Jun 2014

For the first time in its history, the Toyota Kalahari 1000 Desert Race will make its footprints in the western parts of the country, with the diamond mining town of Jwaneng being its base for the next three years.

The off-road motorsport is popularly known as Mantshwabisi, named after a village in the Kweneng region where the route passed in previous years.

This year’s race is scheduled for June 27 to 29, and such this has aroused excitement around the country, especially for the people of Jwaneng.

As is the norm, multitudes of spectators are expected to descend into the small mining town to witness one of the biggest events in the motor-sport calendar. The race has triggered the checks and balances on different sectors, top among them being health related.

The Jwaneng District AIDS coordinator, Ms Stella Keipeile said there is likely to be abnormal incidents of unprotected sex and rape due to drug and alcohol abuse.

She said they were working round the clock to reduce incidents of new HIV infections that are likely to occur during the event.

“We have formed a committee with our stakeholders to distribute condoms in strategic places to address this issue, and there will also be condom use demonstration because we want to promote correct and consistent condom use (CCC) in any way possible. Condoms will also be given to police officers and camp masters to distribute in areas where there are a lot of people,” she said.

She further noted that the distribution of condoms was already ongoing at designated road blocks and will continue into the weekend wrapped into small packages for effective distribution.

Apart from condom distribution, Keipeile said they have roped in other stakeholders such as the National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA) and Tebelopele to offer prevention services and voluntary counseling and testing during the weekend respectively.

She however, noted that testing would only be done after assessing the mental state and fitness of individuals to avoid testing those under the influence of alcohol.

On safety issues, the high number of people expected to be roaming the town are likely to trigger crime incidents such as theft, house breakings and burglary.

Even though the Jwaneng station commander could not be reached for comment, a sizeable number of extra police officers have been spotted in town, and mini road blocks have been mounted.

Apart from the adverse effects anticipated, the Jwaneng community is excited about the business opportunities that will arise during the course of the race.

Already a total of 32 temporary market stalls have been leased to local residents for food vending and catering services. This number is only for the place around the starting point, where a lot of people are expected to gather for the start and ending of the race.

Other stalls will be located at different camping sites and spectator points, while hawkers will also have the opportunity to benefit from the business boom expected over the weekend.

Due to shortage of parking space at the main venue, spectators would park their vehicles at designated points and be shuttled by taxis and combis to the starting points. This would also create a business opportunity for the taxi industry. Ends