19 Feb 2023

Government will consider upgrading Bokspits and McCarthy’s Rust border posts to commercial standard to facilitate movement of commercial goods between Botswana and South Africa.

This follows adoption of a motion by Parliament on Friday  which was tabled by Kgalagadi South Member of Parliament, Mr Sam Brooks recently.

When tabling the motion, Mr Brooks had also requested government to consider adjusting closing times of the two border posts from the current 4pm to 6pm to allow those on transit to move freely.

The legislator had argued that commercialising the two borders would bring economic benefits to residents of both villages, especially small business enterprises such as public transporters and hawkers.

He also argued that broad as Botswana was, it was of concern that there was no commercial border in his area, adding that commercialising the two borders would also come in handy not just for his area, but for the whole of Kgalagardi as the closest commercial border to the area was far away in Ramatlabama.

“Kgalagadi South gets most of its goods from South Africa through these two borders, and because they are not commercial, business people are forced to apply for concession, which is bad for business as approvals could take up to three days,” he said.

Mr Brooks  further argued that the two borders, especially Bokspits, needed to adjust its times of operation to close at 6pm rather than 4pm to be in sync with the Two Rivers border in South Africa.

“This would also boost tourism in the area, because Two Rivers in South African side operates until late. If we synchronise them tourists will be free to tour even late into the night. Commercialising these two border posts should be easy because I am aware that South Africa has a wish to commercialise the opposite points of entry,” he said. Ends