The 1975 Killing of Reni Les in Pandamantenga and Establishment of Botswana Defence Force

Abstract

‘In October [1975] near Pandamatenga a PMU [Police Mobile Unit] patrol was investigating the activities
of a Belgian National when he opened fire without warning, killing a sergeant and wounding a constable.
An automatic sub-machine gun was used. After an extensive air and land search over a wide area of remote
countryside he was traced to Nxai Pan area, and killed during the ensuing engagement’. This is an extract
from a 1975 Annual Report by the Commissioner of the Botswana Police Service in relation to an operation
that ultimately achieved the capture and killing of a Belgian fugitive known as Reni Les. (However, other
sources may have a different spelling of his names). Information is still very scanty and scattered regarding
the true identity of this man. Unfortunately, the report does not reveal much on this incident and most of the
information published here has largely been collected from eyewitness accounts of civilians and soldiers
involved in the operation. But it seems Reni Les had been a Lieutenant in the Belgian army.