24 Dec 2025

The Gaborone Bus Rank was filled to the brim on Christmas Eve as scores of Gaborone residents headed out of town to spend  the Christmas holidays with relatives at their home villages.

Commuters had to patiently endure long queues before embarking on their journeys as the number of buses available did not seem to keep up with the holiday travel demand.

Mr Michael Lekote, an inspector with the Department of Road, Transport and Safety said in an interview that they noticed that there were fewer buses available than in previous years.

"We have been at the bus rank since early morning and we noticed a high number of commuters travelling. Normally as we approach the holidays we issue special permits for public transport companies to increase the number of buses and meet the demand. But this year, we had few applications for these special permits and it is evident there is a shortage of buses," Mr Lekote said.

Nonetheless, he said the travellers had been well behaved and patient in awaiting their turn to travel.

He added that the presence of the police had also helped reduce the petty crime they had observed in previous years. ENDS