28 Aug 2023

The Okavango Human Wildlife Conflict (OHWC) Foundation charity golf tournament held in Kasane over the weekend has raised P46 000 to be channeled towards supporting five identified victims from Maun and surroundings.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, the OHWC Foundation chairperson, Gakemotho Satau said the foundation would continue to support people who had suffered permanent injuries due to wildlife attacks.

“It is imperative for humans and wildlife to coexist hence the need to raise awareness and educate people to apply safety measures so that they did not find themselves in danger,” he said.

He added that the foundation raised funds in order to rehabilitate and empower victims and help them to start businesses following misfortunes caused by animals.

Conversely, Satau said wildlife was essential to Botswana because it contributed to the country’s GDP through tourism activities.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to practice caution against wildlife and further ensure that animal species are protected because failure to do so would see them go extinct,” he said.

Satau thanked all sponsors for their support and was hopeful that they would raise more funds for the next tournament which would be used to victims in Kasane.

For his part, Chobe District Council chairperson, Chimney Mululwani said animals should not be treated as a problem but key contributors to Botswana’s economy.

Mululwani said owing to Chobe District geographical location being surrounded by Chobe River and Chobe National Park, it was imperative that residents were educated on the coexistence measures in order to mitigate human wildlife conflict.

He said government was committed to protect the lives of Batswana while also advocating flora and fauna conservation so that they did not vanish in the long run.

He added that Botswana was a good model in conservation policies worldwide due to the fact that people acknowledged the contribution of wildlife to the economy unlike in other countries where wildlife was killed illegally leading to inexistence.

He thus commended the foundation for embarking on the noble call to support animal victims and educating communities around wildlife zones on strategies to eliminate human wildlife conflict.

Meanwhile, the weekend charity golf tournament saw Onalethata Thagame emerge the winner while Kethusegile Billy finished in position two. Tawanda Kapini and Ruben Molosiwa took the third and fourth spot respectively.

A total of 40 players from Jwaneng, Orapa, Gaborone, Sowa and Francistown competed in the tournament which was played in a stableford scoring format where points were awarded depending on the score for each hole.

A player or team scores one stableford point for a bogey, two for par, three for a birdie, four for an eagle and five for an albatross while double-bogies and worse just get a zero.

In an interview, the winner Thagame, said he was excited to have defended his title and was hopeful that the charity competition would continue to grow. “It was fitting that the tournament was held in Kasane, an area comprising a wide range of animal species that have resulted in cases of human wildlife conflict,” he said.

Thagame, a Kasane resident, added that the golf tournament was a platform for growth because it offered him an opportunity to compete with golfers from across the country. ENDs