20 Dec 2020

A total of 3 285 travelers were facilitated at the Ramokgwebana Border Post, from December 7 to December 13.

Speaking during the North East District COVID-19 task team meeting, Ramokgwebana Border Immigration Officer, Mr Mosele Mosele said of that number, 1 789 were departures, while 1 496 were arrivals.

He said some of the travelers were returning citizens and residents, truck drivers and tourists of different nationalities.

Mr Mosele said most of the departures were Zimbabweans returning home for the holidays, standing at 1 488 in total, while 1 284 of the arrivals  were Zimbabwean nationals.

The officer stated that 105 Batswana arrived in the country, while 119 departed through Ramokgwebana Border Post.  

Furthermore, Mr Mosele highlighted that 142 illegal immigrants were repatriated through the border from different stations of Francistown, Serowe and Selebi Phikwe.

He said they experienced delays in repatriating COVID-19 positive truck drivers to their countries, due to shortage of transport.

This, he said, resulted in the positive truck drivers sharing ablutions with the rest of the truckers, at the new truck bay in Tsamaya village.

Responding to the delays in the repatriation process, the North East Acting District Commissioner Ms Itani Mathumo said the COVID-19 positive truckers would be isolated and use separate ablutions.

On other issues, Ms Mathumo called on people to continue adhering to COVID-19 protocols during the Christmas holidays.

She stated that people were travelling to the northern part of the country in large numbers for the holidays, hence every zone should be treated as high risk. 

She implored all government departments and stakeholders to be vigilant during the holidays.She further advised officers who would be on duty over the holidays to work hard and ensure services were not disrupted. ends