23 Feb 2026

The Vice President, also the Minister of Finance, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe has informed Parliament that border infrastructure plays a critical role in development therefore, government remains committed to ensure that all regions are given fair consideration within national planning process.

Mr Gaolathe, however, said no feasibility study had been undertaken specifically for the Sikwane border post owing to statistics that indicated that the traffic volumes at the border post had not yet reached the sustained thresholds required to justify commercialisation.

He was responding to a parliamentary question from Member of parliament for Kgatleng East, Mr Mabuse Pule on Thursday. Mr Gaolathe emphasised that the designation of a border post for commercial use was not a unilateral decision as it required bilateral negotiations and agreements between the South Africa and Botswana governments.

“Such decisions are guided by objective factors, primarily traffic volumes, trade flows and the level of economic activity in the surrounding areas,” he said.

Mr Gaolathe said on average, Sikwane border post serves 4 500 people per month for those coming in and the same number was recorded for those going out and the monthly average for vehicles was estimated 700 incoming and same volume for the outgoing.

He acknowledged movement at the border, adding however that the level and consistency of activities did not presently support the scale of infrastructure expansion and operational upgrading associated with commercial status.

On other issues, he said it was crucial to consider the historical framework governing border classifications as stipulated in the 1998 Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BNLS) VAT Export Incentive Scheme. The scheme, he said addressed issues on VAT evasion with round-tripping through BNLS countries and certain border posts were designated as commercial while others were classified as non-commercial.

He added that for Botswana, four border posts were declared commercial borders being, Ramatlabama, Pioneer, Tlokweng and Martins Drift and Sikwane was not included as it was deemed to have been operational with limited customs services. Moreover, he explained that government was open to consider the commercialisation status in the future provided the aforementioned indicators were achieved.

Mr Gaolathe also indicated that considering the current fiscal situation, it would not be prudent to commit to specific timelines but government was committed to review and upgrade any border post that demonstrated clear commercial potential without side-lining their counterpart.

Mr Pule has asked the minister to state whether government was willing to consider commercialising the Sikwane Border Post in order to enhance economic activity, trade facilitation and service delivery for the Kgatleng East Constituency. He also asked whether the ministry had conducted or willing to conduct a feasibility study to determine the viability of commercialising the Sikwane border.

Furthermore, he asked for the timeline within which such assessment could be undertaken and whether the ministry would prioritise the Sikwane border Post for future budget planning in recognition of its potential socio-economic benefits to the local communities. BOPA