15 Apr 2026

The Tatitown Post Office robbery case has been postponed to April 21 to allow three accused persons time to finalise their bail applications.

Appearing before Principal Magistrate Thapelo Buang of Francistown Magistrate Court on Tuesday, the first accused, Keabetswe Makei, the post office manager, submitted her bail application through her lawyer, Mr Morris Ndawana.

Makei, alleged to be the mastermind, was initially charged on April 2 with stealing by a public servant. She now appears alongside Molebi Mokhalee, Gofaone Diteko, and Babili Nfandiso, who each face a count of common theft.

The four allegedly conspired on April 1 to swindle Botswana Post of more than P342,000, the money which was meant to pay old age pensioners their March allowances.

Arguing for bail, Mr Ndawana said nothing prevented investigators from continuing their work while his client was out on bail.

He noted that bail conditions could bar a suspect from interfering with investigations.

He added that Makei had cooperated since her arrest and wondered why investigators did not complete key steps in her 12-day detention, including obtaining a court order to access her bank account to check if the stolen funds were deposited.

Even though the other three accused briefly applied for bail, they pointed out that they had not had time to secure legal representation while in custody. They argued that bail would allow them to find lawyers of their choice.

While opposing their bail, lead Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Thabologo Keorapetse of Tatitown Police told the court that the accused could interfere with efforts to recover the missing money. He said the case was complex and the police still needed a court order to check the accused persons’ bank accounts for the missing funds.

Detective Keorapetse said the second accused, Mokhalee, was not a candidate for bail, adding that he was arrested in Senyawe while allegedly attempting to cross into Zimbabwe.

He further said he was a repeat offender wanted by Maun and Urban police for driving an unlicensed vehicle and driving without a license. He added that Mokhalee had other pending cases across the country.

The officer said the third and fourth accused were also likely to interfere with investigations. He noted that they had a pending case of obtaining by false pretenses at Central Police Station.

While acknowledging Section 10 of the Constitution granted the right to bail, he argued that in this case, their right to liberty was not absolute.

Giving background, Detective Keorapetse said police received a report on April 1 that the Tatitown Post Office had been robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash. At the scene, they found first accused Makei tied with a rope and crying, claiming a stranger had robbed her. She was untied, taken to hospital, treated, and discharged the same day.

During interviews, he said the police doubted her account of the story, saying the scene was not disarranged as expected, and she was not tightly bound.

He said the safe was undisturbed and she failed to account for procedures required when large sums of cash were held, adding that this led police to concluding the robbery was staged.

He said police alleged that Makei conspired with the second accused to steal the money and Information from Makei led to Mokhalee’s arrest on April 3 in Senyawe by the Special Support Group. The third accused was arrested the same day at Aerodrome while the fourth was arrested by Sebina police.

He said investigations confirmed there was no robbery, but P342,415.00 was missing.

To date, he said P178,000 remained unrecovered, while the first recovery was made from Makei on April 1 and other recoveries on subsequent days. ENDS