Diplomats differ on border free Africa

Former member of parliament and diplomat Kaire Mbuende says the dismantling of borders within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region is good, but far more complex than the visa regime deployed in other parts of the world.

Mbuende said SADC countries opening up their borders for the citizenry of others is a good sign, but was adamant that the region is far from getting the full implementation of that process.

“To move to the next phase, one has to take into account other factors such as the national security element and free movement of labour. Here you have to define certain skills that you require in your country but believe you do not have, etcetera,” Mbuende said.

However, Zimbabwean ambassador Melody Chaurura begs to differ. In her view, the region is on the right track in terms of regional integration and the development of countries in the region, while guaranteeing the prosperity and happiness of its people.

“This is good from a Zimbabwean perspective [and like] president Emmerson Mnangangwa said to his counterpart (Botswana president), we should move towards implementation while the technical aspects of the agreement are being finalised,” Chaurura said.

The two diplomats were speaking during an interview with Desert Radio yesterday, as borders within the SADC region seem to be falling, with a new provisional agreement entered into between the governments of Botswana and Zimbabwe to allow for the free movement of people.

As part of this accord, Zimbabweans and Batswana wishing to travel to either of the countries can stay in their chosen destination for 90 days without the use of the passports, after which it will be business as usual.

This comes on the heels of a similar cross-border accord that was entered into between Namibia and Botswana, which sees travellers between the two countries using their identity documents rather than usual travel documents to cross each other’s borders.

Mbuende stressed that while the process is moving in the right direction, there are a lot of dynamics that are at play that cannot be ignored, especially when it comes to social development.