Residents of Borolong are worried by the mushrooming of churches that have turned the Shashe and Tlhalogang riverbanks into places of worship.

The villagers say there are no ablution facilities along the riverbanks, yet members of several churches congregate there to worship. They claim that the churches are illegal organisations run by Zimbabweans.

An overseer of African churches in Borolong area, Bishop Ogotseng Mabaiwa says that he has been sent by the village authorities to meet with the leadership of these churches.

"The branch that operates along Shashe River told me that they have been authorised by the Senn Foods farm management to run their church within their premises while waiting for the land board to give them a piece of land," says Mbaiwa.

¼He says the worshippers hide behind mosu thickets along the banks to relieve themselves.

He laments that it is a health hazard as both people and domestic animals drink from the rivers because the village is notorious for its water shortages.

"We source water from the rivers, as we have been faced with a challenge of water shortage for quite some time," says the Village Development Committee (VDC) vice chairperson, Ronald Oageng. He says he has tried to meet with the leadership of the churches so that they can relocate but he has been unsuccessful.

He says that some people just allocate themselves land without going through the right channels.

The councillor for the area, Jabulani Vuke says that a group of worshippers by the river recently told him that their pastor was arrested because he was an illegal immigrant.

He believes there are many illegal immigrants in the churches. He intends to again visit the churches and urge them to find a proper place to worship and to determine whether their pastors have valid papers to be in Botswana.

Masego Phirinyane, who works for the Green Scorpion, says that leaders of another church told her that lack of land has prevented them from building a place of worship.

She too expressed indignation that there are no toilet facilities at the places of worship at the riverbanks and worshippers use the nearby bushes to answer calls of nature.

"I can only take strict measures against them after talking to the village authorities," she says.

The village authorities lament that it is difficult for them to evict the worshippers along Shashe River as they claim that the farm owner has temporarily accommodated them though they are polluting the environment. Attempts to speak to the farm managers proved futile as they did not answer their cellphones.