13 Sep 2017

Southern District Council chairperson, Mr Alec Seametso has raised concern about the crime rate in the community.

Speaking at the ongoing Southern District Council meeting in Kanye, he said during the first quarter of 2017, they recorded increased cases of store breaking and theft, murder attempts, threat to kill and rape.

“However, there was a notable decrease in the categories of burglary and theft, home breaking, robbery and stock theft by 43 per cent on average,” said Mr Seametso.

He said they managed to reduce the prevalence of these cases due to the community’s contribution, adding that in partnership with the community, everything was possible.

Mr Seametso also pleaded with councillors to continue preaching the gospel of crime fighting and encouraging electorates to partake in crime fighting initiatives.

He urged people to strengthen their neighbourhood watch committees and for business people to engage security guards and install security alarms.

Cllr Seametso advised people to take care of themselves and their belongings as well as seeking assistance to prevent crime.

He urged fellow councillors to serve their community with passion, undivided love and determination for them to achieve their goals and objectives for the development of the district.

“As I have always said, if we work together as a team we can achieve more with the limited resources that we have,” he said.

On other issues, he said after the this years heavy rains, the district expected to experience frequent fire outbreaks throughout the district due to the abundance of heavy fuel load.

However, he said the district had not experienced any fire outbreaks so far, but that there was still a high probability of fire outbreaks that may pose a serious impact on rangelands.

He said public campaigns to sensitise communities in the district was done, and that a reasonable number of villages had been addressed and workshops conducted in Mabutsane Sub-district.

Cllr Seametso said the implementation of activities was a success because of collaboration between Debswana (Jwaneng Mine) and the Department of Forestry and Range Resources.

He also said the department has acquired four fire trucks for the Southern, Kweneng, Kgatleng and South-East districts) in an effort to alleviate transport challenges during fire suppression activities.

The SDC chairperson said different departments and ministries made efforts to conduct community services and also constructed a village kgotla at Mahotswane, planted trees along the road reserve and handed over hampers to some identified beneficiaries. Ends