13 Dec 2015

The cross boarder point at Tshidilamolomo will facilitate extension of services to the communities along the Botswana/South Africa border, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu, has said.

Speaking at the official opening of the pilot cross boarder point at Tshidilamolomo, Mr Batshu said there was commitment by both Botswana and South Africa to respond to the call from needy communities.

Batswana and South Africans, he said, had a lot in common as they shared common values, deep links, culture and tradition and had inevitable deeply rooted ties.

There was therefore high mobility of people and goods between the two countries, a thing, he said, had helped to ensure that societies remained united in pursuing common interests geared towards developing the communities.

“The current project is one of the indicators that Botswana and South Africa have sealed cooperation which does not only exist in economic, political and security matters, but extend to basic socio-cultural issues,”he said.

Mr Batshu welcome progress made in facilitating the communities living on both sides of the border to visit each other and informed the local authorities that this was a pilot project, the success of which lies with its utilisation by the communities. 

He indicated that he was looking forward to reports that indicate maximum utilisation of the crossing point to qualify it for possible upgrading to a permanent structure.

He condemned acts of violation of the crossing point and encouraged the users to commit to avoid illegal activities by being proactive and report cases to the law enforcement officials so that perpetrators could be arrested and prosecuted.

“We can only succeed by working together as border agencies. We need to strengthen inter-agency cooperation for good border management”, he said. 

For his part, South Africa home affairs minister, Mr Malusi Gigaba said the project demonstrated the strength of neighbourly relationship that South Africa had with Botswana, the importance of a managed approach to international migration and ability to find solutions for people by listening and working with multiple stakeholders.

South Africa and Botswana, he said enjoy a close relationship, based on deep historical, cultural, linguistic and family ties, as well as shared values of mutual respect, commitment to democracy, good governance, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Mr Gigaba said South Africa was committed to a management approach on international migration and a proactive engagement with her neighbours, aimed ultimately, through a gradual and carefully managed approach, to ease and eventually free movement between the two respective countries after realising the difficulties that residents go through to cross the border.

“This is based on the belief that the movement of people across borders is a reality of human civilisation, which is largely beneficial to societies,” he said.

By managing international migration through thoughtful policies and regulations, he said the two countries can enhance security and fulfillment of constitutional and international obligations.

He said Tshidilamolomo is a case in point: the village straddles two countries, in part due to the irrational borderlines drawn by our former colonial masters.

The people of Tshidilamolomo exemplify the ties which bind our two countries together, as across this border, you are linked by community, culture and customs, language and family, he said.

“Border crossing points such as the one being piloted today, is an innovative and people-centred solution to this problem”, he said.

Officials, he said have worked closely together to develop a solution that facilitates the easy movement of members of the Tshidilamolomo community, while ensuring that such movement is regulated by the respective governments.

He said through this project, each government will enroll its nationals residing in the area by ensuring they have machine-readable passports, and are proven residents based on affidavits from traditional leaders and local councillors as required.

Residents will also be given a border pass document, which will enable them to cross at the community crossing point.

The machine will capture and verify each traveller’s identity using biometrics – fingerprint scan and photo – on each entry and exit. Ends