Police pay the price for Phase 2 shoot-out
Pini Bothoko - Sharon Mathala | Monday November 27, 2023 06:00
. The tender No DS/POL 073/2023-2024/Works calls on contractors to, “for the maintenance of a residential plot house Plot number18515, Phase 2, Gaborone. The works contract will include the maintenance of a residential house at Gaborone, Phase 2.” According to an insider, the police are left with paying for the ‘mess’ which they believe was created by their sister law enforcement organisation, the Directorate on Intelligence and Security (DIS).
The police are currently in a tug of war with the DIS over the shooting. According to a leaked police report, the police claim that they had things under control until the DIS came and ‘bullied’ them and took over the crime scene. A leaked report previously published by Mmegi paints a picture of the police and the DIS both failing to take responsibility for the shooting. In the report, the police point fingers at a second team entirely made up of the DIS officers who forcibly took over the scene from them.
It (the report) further alleges that upon arrival at the scene, a team from the DIS Sebele office instructed the police team to stand down as they allegedly took over the scene. As the police-led team, which also comprised the police, DIS officers, Botswana Defence Force (BDF), and Special Support Group (SSG) allegedly tried to explain to the DIS team that they had everything under control, the DIS officers would reportedly not back down. “Later, a team of DIS officers led by a DIS Officer (names withheld) took over and shot six suspects.
The bodies were later taken to Extension 2 Clinic where they were certified dead,” reads the police report. Previously, the owner of the house, which was rented out to the only survivor in the shooting, 30-year-old, Tsaone Tshegofatso Reboeleng, demanded compensation for loss of income. After releasing an advertisement for the maintenance of the house, Mmegi quizzed the police on the matter even though the service could not respond to the questionnaire before going to print. Mmegi had wanted to confirm with the police if the advertisement of the tender meant that the matter has been settled out of court. Moreover, Mmegi wanted to find out if the house is still considered a crime scene, and if so, how much keeping this house as a crime scene has cost the Botswana police to date.
The matter emanates from a report received by the police at around 10am on February 23, 2022 of a possible robbery. Minutes later the Main Mall was brought to a standstill as armed robbers dramatically hit Bank of Baroda, causing commotion and traffic congestion as they ran from the scene in a getaway car.
The police soon after received a tip off that the suspects were hiding at a house in Phased 2. The police and other law enforcement agencies surrounded the house for hours before gunfire was exchanged between them and the suspected robbers. Ten died, whilst only one female survived and was taken into custody. Meanwhile, the body of one of the deceased a South African national Sipho Mahlangu (42) is still lying at Mosala Funeral Directors (Pty) Ltd, a funeral parlour in Lobatse.
The mortuary’s managing director, Bushie Mosala has slapped the BPS with a P1 million demand for the unclaimed body. In his suit, he details that he was contracted by the police to collect the body from Princess Marina Hospital (PMH) after the post-mortem was conducted. Mosala has been keeping the body since the family refused to claim the body and bare costs of its accommodation at the funeral parlour. However, Mosala said their contract is with the police and they should do the needful by paying costs and take their corpse because they failed to make arrangements for the corpse to be repatriated to South Africa. Mmegi sent detailed questions to the police but did not respond by the time of going to press.