23 Apr 2025

Botswana Police Service has made a breakthrough in fighting crime street gangs commonly referred to as Mashebeshete who recently unleashed terror in Lobatse.

In an interview with BOPA, Officer Commanding District No.4 Senior Superintendent Russ Letsebe said ever since the Police and community volunteers ‘Madibela Lobatse’ came together in night patrols, the crime situation subsided, as they have not recorded any case recently linked to Mashebeshete.

He said the strategic joint community and police patrols and reinforced police personnel on the ground came in handy for the community as they were able to make headway, leading to successes in making numerous arrests and referring some of them to court.

He said initially the crime situation was acerbated by the fact that some of Mashebeshete were out on bail as they had ongoing court cases of murder, and break ins, but went on to contravene their bail conditions. “We became quick on our heels to strategise and with the help of community members we were able to bring the situation under control,” he said.

He said the violent gang was made up of a group of boys who almost sparked chaos bringing shudder fear amongst Lobatse community as Police received an abnormal influx of cases of people attacked on the streets of Peleng, in bars, public areas, entertainments centers at night and their belongings stolen.

The “Madibela Lobatse” volunteers’ committee secretary Ms Kagiso Daniel said 39 community volunteers worked tirelessly with the police during night patrols, adding that they were pleased with the results thus far as the crime situation, which nearly was out of control, had tremendously subsided.

She said they patrolled the streets with the police to arrest the perpetrators.

 She said even though crime had reduced, they were aware more work needed to be done to seal loose ends to ensure Mashebeshete gang dies.

She said they needed to cover more ground in the effort to fight crime, through education, instilling parental guidance and involving social workers as the problem may had been birthed by other social factors.

“These are our children. They come from our homes, our community therefore we must do something to build them up. We intend to find ways of dealing with these children, mold them to be better,” she said. ENDS