05 Jan 2014

As in the rest of the world, the arrival of each New Year is celebrated all over Botswana with street parties, dances, traditional music and inordinate amounts of food and drink. This is a great time to celebrate another year of life.

People celebrate the advent of the New Year differently; some spend the time with family and friends, but many prefer to party.

Travelling around Gaborone and the nearby village of Gabane, there was no doubt that friends and families came together on New Year’s Eve. Explosions and fireworks welcomed the New Year while up to 80 000 spectators gathered at the foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town.

But most people agreed that New Year’s Eve was a time to say goodbye to the troubles of the past year and celebrate a fresh start. But many of those celebrations involved alcohol.

Police in the city were targeting drunken drivers with extra patrols and additional officers on roadways with the hope that 2014 would not ring in the same way as 2013, which had  a lot of fatal accidents and criminal behaviour. They intensified their foot, bicycle and motor vehicle patrols as well as joint efforts with members of the Botswana Defence Force.

In Gaborone West, which is one of the areas hard-hit by crime, police had two response teams that were allocated various parts of the area. Bars closed on time except a few unauthorised drinking areas. Police launched a crackdown on underage drinking and drugs in their patrols in these areas.

On one hand, radio veteran, Mr Geoffrey Pheko led the pack of Mr Michael Kaote, Ms Lilian Dithupe and Jazz Moilwa as they rocked the nation the whole night of December 31 when they presented the Kalola Matlho programme.

This is a programme that keeps Batswana entertained every New Year’s Eve, and for a long time before the advent of other radio stations and Botswana Television, it was one of the most followed programmes. And the great moment was when the final count down to the New Year was drawing nearer when the five presenters rocked the nation with old folk music known as Mpaqanga.

Meanwhile, the Botswana Police Service stated that there was general peace on New Year’s Day. However, they recorded three murder cases, two serious road accidents and isolated incidents of house breakings and armed robberies across the country.

 A press release from the police stated that the murder cases were recorded in Gaborone, Shakawe and Sehithwa. ENDS