Maitengwe kgosi warns border jumpers
FRANCISTOWN: Border jumpers have been warned against using the over-flooded Maitengwe River to cross back and forth into Botswana.
The call came a few days after the Meteorological Services warned of heavy flooding in the north eastern part of the country as the tropical cyclone Chalane, reported in Tanzania and Zimbabwe respectively, was expected to hit Botswana. Kgosi Shadreck Mphala-Mengwe of Maitengwe in an interview cautioned all Zimbabwean border jumpers using the Maitengwe ungazetted points of entry to stay away from the village river.
He said crossing Maitengwe River at this point in time would put the border jumpers’ lives in danger. “For decades, most of the border jumpers have been using Maitengwe River located near Zimbabwe-Botswana borderline to cross into Botswana,” the concerned village leader said.
He also warned Zimbabweans from Babazhi and Cholocho, the two villages which are a stone’s throw away from the Botswana-Zimbabwe borderline, to always be vigilant when drawing water from Maitengwe River.
According to Kgosi Mphala-Mengwe residents of the two villages have been unduly fetching water from the river because they do not have water connections where they come from.
On another note, the Maitengwe village leader urged parents to take care of their children during the rainy season.
He pointed out that children are playful hence parents should keep a close eye on them so that they can stay away from the overflowing rivers.
He was worried that children whose parents tended to have neglect in most cases have a proclivity of going to the river to swim.
Despite his concerns, Kgosi Mphala-Mengwe shared that for now they have not recorded any cases of either children or parents who have drowned since the beginning of this year.
He also urged pastoral farmers to be watchful of their small stock.
“They should keep an eye on the goats and sheep because there is a greater chance that the same animals can drown looking at the state of the river,” Kgosi Mphala-Mengwe advised.
He implored everybody to stay away from the river at all costs whether it was raining or not because some of the rivers get flooded from feeder rivers and swamps from neighbouring Zimbabwe. Earlier during the week, Nkange legislator, Dr Never Tshabang posted on his official Facebook page urging those travelling to the constituency to be extra cautious.
Tshabang’s post indicated that the Maitengwe River was flooding to full capacity with some floods encroaching on mophane woodlands.
He added that in fact all the rivers in the Nkange constituency were flooded to the extent that the Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conversation and Tourism Philda Kereng failed to cross Suswane and Nkange rivers on her way to Maitengwe earlier this week.