FRANCISTOWN: Minors aged 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in court Tuesday on a certificate of urgency asking to be granted bail following a spate of shop breaking, theft and armed robbery cases that rocked Kasane and Kazungula villages.
One of the minors is a student at Okavango Junior Secondary School (OJSS) and he was expelled from school after he missed classes for 21 consecutive days.
The prosecutor, Baedzi Matshambane, told the court that a formal letter of expulsion dated June 2 was filed of record in court to that effect.
This happened after the former student was denied bail by the Magistrate Court in Kasane after charges were levelled against him.
According to the charge sheet, the minors and their three accomplices who are out on bail, broke into Options Store on April 26 in Kazungula.
In the second count, the State alleges that after breaking into Options store, the accused stole goods valued at P11,598.
Thirdly, the State alleges that the quintet broke into Furnmart on April 26 in Kasane and thereafter in the fourth count, stole properties worth P35,528.
In the fifth count, on April 2 the quintet allegedly robbed Golekwang Eseng of P400 using violence. On the sixth charge, the State alleges that the accused stole a cellphone belonging to Emmanuel Simasiku valued at P600 in Kazungula.
Lastly, the State alleges that the accused stole groceries worth P1,600 belonging to Pepukani Serenga in Kazungula.
Opposing why the Chobe JSS student should not be granted bail, Matshambane said that according to the affidavit of the investigating officer, the ‘young thug’ has other offences hence he was denied bail by the Kasane Magistrate Court as opposed to the three other accused persons.
Motivating why he should be granted bail, the ex-student said he stays with his unemployed mother who raised him alone.
The accused, who fluently addressed court in English, also prayed with the court to grant him bail and promised to abide by all the conditions that will be imposed by the court.
He also told the court that he has attached a copy of his academic report, which shows that he was performing exceptionally well academically. At that point, Justice Lot Moroka chipped in and asked the student that if he knew his plight why was he then allegedly involving himself in crime while being aware of the repercussions therein? The ex-student gave no response.
Justice Moroka then turned his attention to Matshambane and asked her that if the society of Botswana was desirous of children to be sent to jail for petty offences where they mix with hardened criminals as opposed to finding other ways of moulding the children into responsible citizens? In addition, Justice Moroka asked Matshambane if it was in the interest of society that it should lose a child by sending him/her to prison and then gaining them in future as a hardened criminal who cannot refuse the urge of being recruited into committing serious crimes in future?
In response and as would naturally be expected, Matshambane said that it was not society’s desire that minors should be sent to jail where they mix with all types of criminals who could lead them astray.
Justice Moroka then told the prosecution that “he refuses to be used to destroy lives of minors, especially the one who was raised by a single parent” like in the case of the former student who appeared before him.
Justice Moroka then sternly reprimanded the ex-student saying: “You must think hard about your future and stop this nonsense of going out at night at the wrong places and being implicated in criminal activities.
You should either choose to die or choose a bright future. The choice is yours. I am going to grant you bail, but I must never see you here again.” The ex-student then breathed a sigh of relief after he was granted bail on conditions that he shall sign his own recognisance in the sum of P5,000, avail two sureties who shall each bind themselves in the like sum, is not reasonably suspected of having committed any crime whilst on bail and attend court as and when required to do so. Most importantly, Moroka also made an order for social welfare officers in Kasane to assist the ex-student to be re-admitted in school.
Just like in the case of the ex-student who is now re-admitted to school, Justice Moroka struck a delicate balance between the interests of society and the second applicant who is jointly charged with the former student, but had also applied for bail separately. Justice Moroka granted the second applicant bail, but he also admonished him (applicant).
Justice Moroka said: “Just like your friend who appeared before me a few seconds back, you are still young and have a bright future ahead of you. It is either you shorten your future by engaging in criminal activities or make it bright by being disciplined.
The choice is yours. I will entrust you with your liberty today. I don’t want to breed criminals by taking young people out of school to prison where they will interact with hardened criminals. They should be alternative ways of dealing with young people accused of having committed crimes rather than schooling them in jail where they mix with hardcore criminals. The country will be much better if young criminals are dealt with differently... Although you are currently not schooling, you are still young and you can turn around your life... The future is in your hands...” With the High Court having made an order for the ex-student to be re-admitted, and to be fair to him because he has not unleashed terror on his peers and teachers at school, fears that he may replicate his ‘out of school behaviour’ in school are not far fetched.
In the past, the Botswana Sectors for Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) expressed concern about incidents in which some teachers and students were injured by students in schools.
This, BOSETU said, was caused by changing family patterns and domestic challenges amongst other factors.
According to the secretary-general of BOSETU, Tobokani Rari the status quo has led to a breakdown of family structures, which has led to weakening discipline levels amongst young people.
Rari also said the government should also release findings of the 2015 Kgosi Gaborone Commission. The commission went around the country to find out about a wide range of social ills and their causes. “If publicised, the findings of the commission can help various stakeholders to understand the extent and cause of social ills in our society and by extension schools. Stakeholders will then be able to help the government to come up with solid measures meant to curb violence in schools based on the recommendations made by the commission,” Rari said.
Drugs and intoxicating substances have also made their way into schools in high volumes according to BOSETU. Rari believes that this has also contributed towards the growing instances of violence towards teachers.
“Guidance and counselling systems in schools have totally collapsed. You will find that the school has two Guidance and Counselling teachers, but has around 2,000 learners. This ultimately means that teachers cannot handle such a high number of learners. In some instances, qualified Guidance and Counselling teachers have been made to teach different subjects,” he said. Asked about what may have contributed to the minors to find themselves in their predicament, Kgomotso Jongman, a social work lecturer at the University of Botswana (UB) who specialises in youth and community practice, said many variables come into play.
A child’s upbringing, Jongman noted, is one of the factors that may influence them to behave delinquently.
Jongman said children observe and replicate what they see happening within their families.
The UB academic explained that this is usually prevalent in single parent families where children lack one of their parents to become their role model. Children who grow up in these types of families, Jongman said, can sometimes become angry as a way of showing that they lack role models within their families as in the case of the student who was expelled from school.
Other factors like maltreatment whereby children experience serious maltreatment at the hands of their parents may influence them to misbehave, amongst a host of factors. To prevent these unpleasant situations from happening, Jongman said society has to work with families adding that families should assume their positive central role in bringing up children. “We need to promote families so that they play their critical role in bringing up children. Also, families should create conducive environments whereby children feel free to communicate about many things. Critically important is to have programmes that rehabilitate children whenever they fall astray,” said Jongman.
