25 Mar 2020

With Zimbabwe having registered three cases of Coronavirus, Deputy Chief of Matsiloje village, Mr Solomon Segopa says there is need to maintain the cordon fence that Botswana shares with her neighbouring state.

The fence, according to Mr Segopa was not in a good condition and therefore made residents of the North-East district village susceptible to COVID-19 due to border jumpers from Zimbabwe.

The deputy Chief said in an interview on Monday that community leaders in conjunction with police officers, had agreed to conduct patrols along the fence to curb illegal entry that could result in the transmission of COVID-19 into Botswana.

Also Mr Segopa stated that Matsiloje residents were pleased with precautionary measures put in place by government such as the one that limited the number of people attending funerals.

His wish was the status-quo could continue beyond the pandemic.

Mr Segopa also noted that churches had also heeded government’s message to avoid crowding.

“Even business entities had agreed to stand together in the fight against the pandemic by prioritising hygienic measures,” he said.

On other issues, the deputy Chief expressed concern over the illegal use of drugs particularly marijuana which was common amongst both the elderly and the youth.

He said there was speculation that the illicit drugs were being transported from neighbouring countries. 

He said however that police often conducted raids in an effort to arrest the situation.

On farming Mr Segopa said the closure of the Botswana Meat Commission had left majority of farmers in the lurch with most of the people who buy cattle taking advantage and buying them at low prices. That being the case, Mr Segopa was happy that there was notable progress to rehabilitate old mine pits in Patayamatebele and had just began in Matsiloje.

He explained that the old mine pits were dangerous to both human beings and animals.

Meanwhile, Matopi Kgosi, Tshimologo Toteng, was worried about the closure of all bars stating that the development would have an adverse effect on the village’s economy as many people relied more on selling alcohol to make a living.

She however acknowledged that Batswana had no choice but to abide by the precautionary measures set by government to prevent the devastating effects of coronavirus. Ends