29 Jun 2015

Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Katlholo Mosimanegape says they recorded a total of 19 accidents during the Toyota 1000km Desert Race held in Jwaneng over the weekend.

He said two passengers died on separate accidents on Friday (June 26) and June 27. The accidents occured on gravel roads outside Jwaneng.

He attributed the high number of accidents to excessive consumption of alcohol. He noted that most of these accidents could have been avoided.

Mr Mosimanegape said there were also incidents of fights and cellphone theft that were recorded throughout the weekend. He also noted that even though their traffic control strategies worked well, this year’s event had the highest number of spectators since the inception of the race.

He said more police officers were deployed at the area near the traffic round about which proved to be a challenge last year.

He said in the coming years, there should be a robust plan to address the issue of alcohol abuse since it was the main challenge. The music festival issue, Mr Mosimanegape, also needed to be looked into because it attracted a lot of people who ended up misbehaving after indulging in alcohol.

He called on Batswana to be on their best behaviour in future events by policing each other to avoid the negative consequences. “If people continue to misbehave they might ruin their chance of enjoying the race because it would have to be reviewed,” he warned. Ends