Africa-Press – Botswana. Traditional leaders have backed a recent shoot to kill‘policy’ adopted by law enforcement officers duringarmed 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 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 protect 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 enforcement officers are knowledgeable that killing a person should be the last thing, adding that the current circumstances continue to push them beyond the limits.“I want to believe that whatever decision that law enforcement 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 minister said the heists were prevalent during August through toNovember 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 opportunity 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.
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