12 Mar 2014

Police officers and churches in Mahalapye gathered at Morale, five kilometres south of Mahalapye on the Ramatlabama/Ramokgwabana Road to pray for the reduction of accidents that have been taking place on that road.

Welcoming guests at the March 8 prayer meeting, Mr Tshipe Tshipe of Mahalapye tribal administration said Batswana were concerned about accidents along the A1 road, hence the effort to solve the problem with prayer.

Mr Tshipe said it was not the first time prayers were held against road accidents. Previous prayers helped to reduce the accidents. Unfortunately, the situation worsened again. “We all know as road users that there are laws that we should abide by and if we do not there has to be something driving us to do it,” he said. 

“That is why we are all gathered here to cast the demons that make us break those laws.”  He said everyone was aware of the dangers of drunken driving and speeding and there was no excuse for doing it if one was in his or her right state of mind. 

He urged drivers to be responsible and to drive safely at all times.  He stressed that drivers must be cautious even if Botswana roads were bad because safe driving saved lives. Mr Tshipe urged passengers not to board vehicles when either the car or its drivers was not fit to be on the road. 

He noted that government spent large sums of money educating young Batswana whose lives were cut short by road accidents. He called on communities to play their part in reducing road accidents.

Mahalapye police station commander, Superintendant Amos Kekgathetse said Ramatlabama-to-Ramokgwebana had always been a hotspot for accidents. 

The Mahalapye Police Station covered a portion of the road between Capricorn and Radisele where 188 accidents occurred in 2012 and in 2013 on the Morale stretch.

Eighty-two accidents occurred in 2012, five of them fatal and claiming 10 lives. One hundred and six accidents occurred in 2013, five of them fatal, claiming eight lives.

 Mr Kekgathetse said these figures were too high for one area, hence the need for divine intervention. Ends