Government somersaults on no permit directive

Sharon Mathala
Malaki Tshipayagae

Inter-zonal ‘Green permits’ to be issued

The Director of Health Services, Tshipayagae Malaki has backtracked on an earlier directive that travel permits will no longer be needed.

When briefing the nation this afternoon the Director clarified that travel permits will still be mandatory until May 20.

When giving a brief of the phase 3 of the lockdown Malaki said batswana will still need permits to travel around.

“The status quo remains. People will still be required to carry around permits. We were advised by our legal counsel to retract the statement,” Malaki explained.

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According to the director changes will only come in May 20 that is to say after May 20 people will not need permits to move around the zones, green permits will also be rolled out for inter zonal travels.

On the issue inter zonal travel Malaki said ” After the 20th there will be a green permit for inter zonal travels. This permit will allow those who work across zones to travel. people within zones will not be required carry permits, that is to say if you are in greater Gaborone you won’t be required a permit if you travel within that zone.”

“As of tomorrow business that had 25 % work force will now be allowed to have 50 %. Those who were at 50 some will be allowed to go up to 75%. A lot more people will be allowed to have permits, “Malaki said.

On the issue of testing truck drivers the Director of Health said that they have since made the u-turn on their strategy.

” We have started testing truck drivers at entry point. Looking at the high risk of importation of the virus initially we wanted a 72 hour negative test result but we have since realised that route puts others in a difficult situation. We will now test driver upon arrival, we are committed to keeping the virus at bay,” he said.

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