Africa-Press – Botswana. About half of Botswana citizens said they were unsafe, feared crime, and felt the government was not doing enough, according to a recent Afrobarometer report.
Crime is a big issue and it ranks second to unemployment, among issues the public wants addressed, the report revealed.
The report also mentioned that poor communities were the least safe in the country.
“Respondents with high levels of lived poverty are most likely to report feeling unsafe in their communities,” reads the report.
In 2020, there were 78.1 burglaries for every 100 000 people in Botswana.
READ | Botswana police kill bystanders, armed robbers in shootout
This was a decrease from 265.1 burglaries per 100 000 people in 2010, according to the government’s figures.
In the Afrobarometer survey, it is highlighted that 45% of Batswana were afraid of crime in their homes, and 50% said they felt insecure when moving around their neighbourhoods at least once last year.
Both figures reflect the highest levels of insecurity ever observed in Botswana in the past decade and respondents said the government was not doing enough.
The report said:
Six in 10 citizens say the government is performing ‘very badly’ (34%) or ‘fairly badly’ (25%) on reducing crime. Only 5% say it is doing ‘very well’.
According to Statistics Botswana’s latest report on crime released last year, for 2019, robbery, extortion and hijackings constituted 6.1% of criminal activities in the country.
Crimes involving weapons and explosives made up 0.3% of crimes, while burglaries and related offences accounted for 3.2%.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
