- Say it is the right approach because the criminals are heavily armed
Traditional leaders have backed a recent shoot to kill
‘policy’ adopted by law enforcement officers during
armed cash heist incidents. The controversial stance
came about against the backdrop of an announcement that
the Minister of Defence and Security Kagiso Mmusi earlier
this year in which he encouraged law enforcement officers
to use all possible means to eliminate crime.
Mmusi said this amid rising cases of armed cash heists.
Kgosi Lotlamoreng Montshiwa ll of Barolong told The Bo–
tswana Gazette in a telephone interview that it is worrying
how criminal syndicates continue to be in possession of
high calibre firearms, saying that in such circumstances,
law enforcement officers are left with no choice but to pro–
tect their lives and those of the public.
“I am in support that law enforcement officers should
protect their own lives in any way they can because these
heavily armed criminals are dangerous and they might kill
them,” he said.
Kgosi Montshiwa ll of BaRolong appealed with senior
law enforcement to engage Ntlo ya Dikgosi on the issue,
adding that many members of the House are still in the dark
on many issues concerning the security of the nation.
Kgosi Kebinatshwene Mosielele of BaHurutshe said
he is well informed that these criminals are often found
in possession of heavy arms, something which shows that
they will not spare anyone standing in their way.
Kgosi Mosielele emphasised that he trusts that law en–
forcement officers are knowledgeable that killing a person
should be the last thing, adding that the current circum–
stances continue to push them beyond the limits.
“I want to believe that whatever decision that law en-
forcement officers take when approaching incidents of
shootouts is well thought out because they have gone
through training and they can easily tell when the situation
cannot be managed through dialogue or arrest,” he stated.
He said the Directorate of Intelligence and Security
(DIS) should bear the sole responsibility of investigating
where the guns could be coming from, if not remnants of
post-apartheid South Africa. Kgosi Mosielele stated that
entry points should be tightened to eliminate the flow of
ammunition into the country.
Minister Mmusi recently said even though incidents of
cash-in-transit heists continue to happen in some pockets
of the country they have decreased significantly since the
involvement of government security agencies. The minis–
ter said the heists were prevalent during August through to
November living Batswana in fear.
The workshop themed Aspiring for a Safer Botswana,
resonated well with what every Motswana was looking
forward to since the world did not afford people any op-
portunity or time to adjust to new threats, nor did it provide
a blueprint on how to deal with them, he suggested.
Mmusi said he was aware that they had been engaged
by the Private Security Services Licensing Board before in
their bid to solicit workable and durable solutions to cash-
in-transit heists and it was observed that throughout the
previous engagements, they understood the magnitude of
the threat facing the country’s national coffers.
He said they have demonstrated immense commitment
to solving the issues afflicting cash-in-transit business and
demonstrated by proffering possible mitigation measures
and strategies that could be used to ensure that criminals
failed to undermine the private security companies in the
CIT business.