04 Mar 2020

Presidents of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe are expected to sign a treaty in June 2020 to further cement their relationship.

A tri-lateral technical committee of the three nations met last month and proposed that the treaty be signed in June by heads of state.

The Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Ms Phildah Kereng, said this in response to a parliamentary question on Tuesday.

She stated that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe was signed in 2006 and a draft treaty was developed with inputs from all countries.

However, Ms Kereng said Botswana proposed a name change to revert back to the LSTFCA, which was not agreed upon.

Minister Kereng highlighted that the scenario had stalled progress in terms of signing of the treaty until 2019, when Botswana withdrew its wish for name change.

She explained that the initial name of the MoU was Limpopo Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area (LSTFCA), but in 2009 the three states agreed to rename it Greater

Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area (GMTFCA).

The reason cited, she said, was that all three countries had sites called Mapungubwe following the iron age civilisation.

She said in terms of progress, the tri -ateral technical committee s met on February 27 in Johannesburg to map way forward regarding the signing of the treaty and resuscitation of structures.

Ms Kereng said besides the treaty signing, the GMTFCA had been making good strides in terms of international cross boarder events held in the TFCA, which included the Nedbank Tour De Tuli, which had been an annual event for the past 14 years with this year being the 15th.

Minister Kereng pointed out that other events included the 4*4 Defender Trophy, Wild Run, World Rangers Meet and others. In this regard, she said besides the delay in the signing of the treaty, the GMTFCA was progressing well and that hopefully progress would improve after signing of the treaty.

One of the objectives of the TFCA, she explained, was to promote alliances in the management of biological natural resources and cultural heritage resources by encouraging social, economic and other partnerships among the parties and stakeholders.

“This is a mammoth task which we cannot attach a timeframe to. Therefore the TFCA does not have an expected end date, but we hope that a treaty will be signed in June 2020 to further cement the relationship between the three countries,” Minister Kereng said.

The minister said she was unable to speak with certainty about the exact number of jobs expected to be created, but noted that the TFCA presented great opportunities for employment.

The minister was answering a question from Bobonong MP, Mr Taolo Lucas, who wanted an update on the progress made regarding creation of Trans Frontier Area involving Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Mr Lucas also wanted the minister to state if the progress was satisfactory, the expected timeline for completion of the project and the expected number of jobs to be created on the Botswana side once the project was completed. ENDS