18 Feb 2026

The Ministry for State President, Defense and Security is intensifying its efforts to combat road fatalities through a multi-pronged strategy involving stricter enforcement and public education. 

Responding to a question in Parliament on Tuesday, on behalf of Minister for State President, Defense and Security, Minister of Communications and Innovation, Mr David Tshere, said government was concerned about the prevalence of road accidents. 

To address this, he said the Botswana Police Service, alongside key stakeholders, had deployed several deterrence strategies, including public education campaigns, setting up of roadblocks and regular road patrols as well as continuous monitoring of accident trends to determine if stiffer penalties were required in the future. He indicated that 3 195 cases of causing death by dangerous driving were reported nationwide between 2016 and 2025, 1 309 drivers of which were charged, 685 prosecuted and 519 convicted. 

Of the remaining legal cases, he said 166 resulted in acquittals, while the remaining 574 cases were pending trial. 

The minister noted that the average sentence for those convicted currently stood at five years’ imprisonment or a P10 000 fine. 

Under current law, he said offenders faced fines ranging from a minimum of P5 000 to a maximum of P30 000 or imprisonment between six months and five years, in default of payment. 

He said he was confident that the current conviction rate had a positive impact. 

However, he reiterated that the ministry would continue to monitor whether such statistics indicated a need for more robust investigations or even stronger prosecution measures.

He was responding to questions from Nkange MP, Mr Motlhaleemang Moalosi, who sought clarification on the number of reported cases of causing death by dangerous driving over the past 10 years, the number of individuals charged, prosecuted and convicted as well as the average sentence imposed on the convicted. 

Mr Moalosi also wanted to know the minimum and maximum penalties for the offence, whether the current rates of prosecution and conviction were sufficient to deter drivers from endangering others and whether the statistics indicated a need for stiffer sentences, more robust investigations and stronger prosecution of offenders. ENDS