10 Jul 2022

Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) director general, Brigadier Peter Magosi has appealed to the Lobatse community to come forth with more information that will aid in uncovering more suspects in the murder of Tlotso Karema.

Seven-year-old school boy, Tlotso went missing in March this year and was confirmed murdered following security forces investigations. A 37-year-old Zimbabwe national, Mr Lovemore Sithole was recently arrested in connection with the murder and would appear before the Lobatse Magistrate Court on Tuesday (July 12).

Speaking in a kgotla meeting in Lobatse on Friday, Brig. Magosi assured that security forces would continue investigating to establish whether there were more people involved in the murder of the 7-year-old boy.

“There are rumours in the township but no one is coming forth with tip offs to our officers. We depend on tip offs from the society. Our officers cannot do much without that assistance from the society,” said the DIS boss.

Botswana Police Service (BPS) deputy commissioner operations, Senior Superintendent Solomon Mantswe said investigations had not revealed whether the suspect was working alone or with other people. Mr Mantswe said the accused, Sithole was expected to reveal more details how he committed the hideous act during the trial process.

He refuted allegations that the remains of Tlotso were found buried in a spot between Lobatse and Molapowabojang village.

“We didn’t find any remains. 

The place where the suspect led us was the scene where our officers believe that the murder was committed. There were some things which I cannot mention which we found at the scene, which made us believe that it was where the child was killed. But there are no other remains that were found,” Mr Mantswe said.

He promised financial reward for anybody who could come forth with information leading to uncovering of more suspects.

“We will give a P50 000 reward to anyone who can give us information which will ultimately lead to the arrest of more suspects,” he said. Ms Kesaobaka Karema, who is the elder sister to the mother of Tlotso, confirmed that what the police said was true. She thanked the police on behalf of the family for the effort being made to investigate the matter.

Peleng Customary Court president, Ms Tshegofatso Setumo said the objective of the meeting was to give feedback to the community about progress made by security forces in investigating the matter.

Some community members appealed that the suspect be denied bail. They also said they strongly believed that the accused was working with some accomplices, and therefore asked security agents to interrogate him so that he could reveal the accomplices. Ends