21 May 2020

COVID-19 Task Force Team members have commended officers at Ramokgwebana border gate for their concerted efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

The team comprising of Professor Mosepele Mosepele and Dr Malaki Tshipayagae visited the border on Wednesday to appreciate day to day operations by immigration, health, police and Botswana Unified Revenue Service.
 
Dr Tshipayagae stated that the visit was meant to appreciate operations at the border gate ever since the testing of truck drivers at entry points was effected.

He said Botswana was working hard to manage the few COVID-19 cases it registered and also to prevent new ones.

Dr Tshipayagae stressed that truck drivers should not interact with citizens while on transit hence being escorted by police officers until they exit the country.

He said this arrangement was meant to ensure that truck drivers did not spread the virus. After testing, they should proceed with their journey while while awaiting results. 

Furthermore, he highlighted that arrangements had been made with the police to attend to situations where one of the drivers might want to buy food along the way or access bathrooms. 

Senior environmental health officer, Ms Painah Nyathi, said as frontline officers, they appreciated the task team’s visit because it strengthened them to continue serving the public.

She stated that over the past few days, they had experienced an influx of Batswana and residents arriving from Zimbabwe to prepare for the end of lockdown, adding that all the arrivals were put into mandatory quarantine at selected facilities.

Ms Nyathi stated that as for truck drivers, Ramokgwebana border serviced am average of 20 truck drivers each day on transit from Zimbabwe to South Africa.

Furthermore, she stated that truck drivers complained of the testing processes, which they said was daunting on their part because the results were only valid for three days, hence they had to take multiple tests every time they transited through Botswana. 

She said upon arriving at the border, the truck drivers were requested to produce a health certificate so that those whose results were still valid would not test again. 

The officer indicated that port health officers worked hand in hand with ACHAP team that collected specimen at the border and were able to access results on the system when the lab technicians in Francistown had completed testing. Ends