Tread carefully with neighbouring countries

RUSSO LUMA
Correspondent | Friday April 9, 2010 00:00

There were so many paths leading towards the border. Some branched into the fields, but some led straight to the border. Near the border, it is so hilly. That provided an ideal cover for the villagers. You would soon know why.

These paths became so circuitous once they got closer to the border and this was deliberate. They passed through passages between hills.  Old wheelbarrows had to be greased well to deaden the creaky sound that could alert veterinary patrol officers of escapades. They knew that villagers crossed into Zimbabwe through ungazetted points.

Where they crossed, the fence was damaged. There were so many footsteps. The paths cutting through no-man's-land were clear and went further into Zimtoto-so, as they affectionately called the country.  The villagers had a credible reason to love this country that is why they called it with such affection.

They knew that smuggling was illegal. But they became smugglers. The Special Support Group (SSG) and other patrol officers could arrest them and they could go to jail. But they continued doing it, untill the owner of the shops nicknamed Dumani died in the early 1990s. The shops stopped operating. That was a crippling blow to the acquisition of the villagers' staple food. Buying locally was expensive. Money was hard to come by.

All along, before these shops were closed most of the families struggled financially. Most of the time family members who worked in Francistown, Gaborone, Selibe Phikwe and South Africa only came home during the holidays.  Some only came in December for Christmas.Whatever little money families got either through selling the home-brew or by any other means was used to buy maize meal, sugar and tea.

These were cheaper at Dumani's shops which had been built strategically near the border for customers from nearby villages in Botswana.The businessman made sure that he built shops near each of the villages along the border for easy accessibility.  Life was difficult, but Zimbabwe saved the situation. Soldiers in Zimbabwe were never a problem. Whenever they found customers from Botswana there, they would make them feel at ease by buying them soft drinks. They would ask them to call again.  Had it not been for these shops, people in these villages could have been the hardest hit by hunger.

Zimbabweans would also cross illegally into these villagers and sell their agricultural produce like beans and groundnuts. They also sold their handicraft work like buckets, bath tubs, wooden sculptures and so on. Before the Civil War in Zimbabwe, our people especially from the villages along the border worked in towns like Bulawayo and Plumtree.

There was a serious shortage of jobs in Botswana. Historically, the relationship between the Bakalanga in Botswana and people of Zimbabwe dates back to time immemorial. When the Ndebele led by Mzilikazi broke away from the Zulu Kingdom led by Shaka in 1832, he passed through what is now Botswana fighting some of the Tswana tribes on his way to Dzimba Dze Mabwe (Zimbabwe).

When he reached Zimbabwe, he found the Bakalanga settled around Matopo Hills led by chief Kgari. He attacked them and Kgari was killed in that battle.

The Bakalanga were defeated and some of them moved south into what is now Botswana. That is why we have Bakalanga in the north eastern part of this country. We still have Kalanga speaking tribes in Zimbabwe and some Bakalanga families here, have relatives there. In the early 80s, Zimbabwe immigrants jumped the border into Nlapkhwane and other villages along the border, running away from the last kicks of the Civil War.

Villagers directed them to Dr Knight Maripe's home who used his yellow Hilux to drive them to Dukwi Refugee Camp.

With the recent economic and political troubles in Zimbabwe, we have seen an influx of immigrants into Botswana. They have come here for groceries, fuel, jobs and many other things. Some came in legally and others illegally.

Whenever I hear people making xenophobic utterances I think of the time when we illegally bought maize meal, sugar and tea in Zimbabwe. We had these items in the local shops, but the problem was the high prices. During the economic crisis in Zimbabwe, there was a point where inflation was skyrocketing. The prices of goods were just exorbitant.

The food prices in our village shops in the 80s and early 90s, may not have been as high as they were in Zimbabwe's recent past, but they were not affordable. We were forced by hunger to do something illegal. May be one day we would have to do it again. We never went to the villages and towns looking for jobs like they are doing, but we crossed into Zimbabwe.

People with countries that share borders always need each other, one way or the other whether their dealings are be legal or illegal. There is always that interdependence between these countries. It is very important then, that neighbouring countries like Botswana and Zimbabwe do all they can to maintain cordial bilateral relations. In the event that a war breaks out between these countries because of floppy diplomatic talks, the ordinary people are going to pay a heavy price.

They would lose their lives and some would get displaced to areas they are not familiar with. The main reason why countries have embassies in other countries is that they want to cultivate, maintain and strengthen peaceful relations between them and those countries. That then averts strained relations and potential wars.

As a country, we should have a President, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation and ambassadors who are level-headed and knowledgeable on issues of diplomacy otherwise we would find our country at war even over minor things. Just recently, after three Botswana wildlife wardens accidentally strayed into Zimbabwe and were arrested for doing so, our diplomatic mettle was tested.

And it became so clear that at international level, we can be diplomatically wanting especially with the current government. I guess the Zimbabwean government behaved the way it did deliberately, to test whether we are diplomatically mature. I am one of those Batswana who were very worried about the way our government handled the issue. When it comes to issues of diplomacy, as a government you have to respect the other country's sovereignty.

Even when there is a belief that the concerned country is being unreasonable in her behaviour, you have to remain calm. You do not rush into recalling your ambassadors and attaches in that country. Diplomats, the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation included should know that if they make such haste and extreme measures, the relations may be strained and a war may be the result.

They should not be driven by personal egos, but by the interests of the country they are representing. In a war situation, the ordinary person would suffer because of their diplomatic immaturity. In the case of a Zim-Botswana war, people in the villages along the border, like the ones I mentioned earlier, are likely to take the first bullets from Zimbabwe soldiers. 

The spirit of neighbourliness should prevail; governments and the people in these countries where immigrants are running to, should understand that what goes around comes around. We should think about the possibility of us being in a similar situation. Today, it may be Zimbabweans who are facing the political and economic crisis which forces them to move to other countries, but tomorrow it could be Batswana or South Africans.

In Africa and indeed in the whole world, the political temperature can change any time and a country could find itself in a Civil War or in some political crisis which one way or the other is going to destabilise the economy. Look at what is happening at the moment in the country  where there is a rift within the ruling party (BDP). Some members of the party notably Botsalo Ntuane and Kabo Morwaeng from the Barata-Phathi faction were served with suspension letters from the party leadership.

They did not take it lying down; there is now strong talk about forming a new political party. Who knows where this is leading to?  Who knows what will happen if the faction finally forms a party? How will the ruling party react to such a move, knowing how politically powerful the leading heads in the would-be break-away party are?

They know a lot about the Botswana Democratic Party. They have sympathisers, especially those who are not happy with the leadership both in the BDP and at national level. If the ruling party tries to eliminate the new party leadership there are likely to be riots from sympathisers. This may get out of control and we would see protesters being beaten and shot at like has happened elsewhere in Africa. It has happened in Kenya and Zimbabwe.

This is why I am saying in Africa, the political temperature can change any time and people may find themselves running to the country next door. I am not a prophet of doom, but hey, this is The Dark Continent, Africa. Quite a number of African presidents like using force whenever they feel their authority is challenged. Do not be surprised.

We would run to the neighbouring countries. If you are one of those who are xenophobic towards Zimbabweans, know that one day you are likely to find yourself receiving the same kind of treatment.