07 Apr 2020

Francistown District Commissioner, Ms Chabongwa Matseka says 285 people out of a total of 489 who have been on a 14-day mandatory quarantine in 19 facilities in and around Francistown will be released April 07.

Ms Matseka, who chairs the district COVID-19 committee said in an interview that tests had been conducted on the 285 and that they had been found not to have COVID-19, hence their release.

Meanwhile, Ms Matseka had raised a concern about large number of people who frequented the district commissioner’s office at Ntshe House in Francistown on a daily basis seeking permits to travel outside the city.

“We are not able to assist majority of these people because the reasons they advance do not warrant us to give them permits. Most of them come here asking to be given permits to travel to funerals, to visit ailing family members or to go to either the lands and cattle post,” she said.

Other than the 222 essential service permits dispensed since the commencement of the 28-day state of emergency, the Francistown DC office has issued three permits to the following; a Zimbabwean national who had to go bury his wife, a Motswana woman who lost a child and another Motswana woman whose husband had passed on.

To help deal with the overwhelming number of people who come to ask for permits to travel, Ms Matseka and her committee had sought the services of both the Botswana Defence Force and Botswana Police Service personnel to manage the crowd.

Also, Ms Matseka was happy that a number of companies and associations in and around Francistown had heeded the clarion call by the government to contribute toward the COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Old Apostolic Church contributed P50 000, RAVI Investment, a hardware and building material company, P10 000 while others among them Chedu-Choga, Water Mirage Holdings have pledged to fumigate some places within the city.

ABM University has pledged its facilities in Francistown and Masunga to be used for any COVID-19 related activites. Ends