04 Jun 2020

Eight road accident fatalities were reported during the 49 days of extreme social distancing period, says Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) chief executive officer, Mr Michael Tlhagwane.

Briefing the media on Wednesday, Mr Tlhagwane stated that road accidents fatalities drastically dropped during the lockdown period as a result of low traffic volumes.

He said from the eight causalities,  five funeral expenses reimbursements had been processed which were submitted post lockdown while three funerals were on credit terms with various undertakers.

Following the lifting of the lockdown and social distancing restrictions, Mr Tlhagwane said MVA had resumed all clients services under normal working hours.

He said strict precautions would still be observed in an effort to curb the spread of the disease.

Another speaker, MVA senior accident prevention manager, Mr Mompati Bontsibokae said it was disturbing that there were already three reported road accident fatalities within days after the easing of lockdown restrictions.

He however said MVA constantly engaging with stakeholders to spread the urgent message of road safety while at the same time ensuring compliance to COVID 19 protocols.

Mr Bontsibokae said MVA would continue to extend assistance to all those affected by road crashes in Botswana irrespective of who caused the accident. Ends