SA, Botswana urged to tighten border fence to curb smuggling
Pini Bothoko | Friday November 10, 2017 16:26
The Member of Parliament for Tlokweng, Kenneth Segokgo said this when interviewed on the sidelines of the ongoing Parliament session following a question he asked on Tuesday.
Segokgo had asked the Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services Prince Maele when the border fence along the South Eastern side (Tlokweng/Ramotswa area) separating Botswana and South Africa will be mended and maintained.
He also asked when the fence was last maintained and whether the absence of the fence in some parts of the borderline increased and encouraged incidences of cross-border crime and if so, what are the nature of crimes committed and their severity.
In response, the Assistant Minister Itumeleng Moipisi said that the border fence sbetween Botswana and South Africa would be maintained in the 2018/19 financial year.
He said that the fence was last maintained in 1994 by South Africa as per the existing international boundary treaty of 1973, which places the responsibility for maintenance on the South African government.
Moipisi revealed that according to the treaty arrangement, the South Africans undertake maintenance of the boundary fence and bills the Botswana government half the maintenance costs.
He however stated that discussions are ongoing to review the arrangement.
“There is no direct correlation between the absence of the borderline fence and cross-border crime. It is worth noting that in most cases, perpetrators of cross-border crime use gazetted ports of entry,” Moipisi said.
Asked what could have motivated his question, Segokgo daid he was concerned that the absence of the fence in some parts of the borderline increased and encouraged border crime, as people crossed easily between the two states. He said that locals have been conniving with the drug smugglers across the border to transport drugs and other illegal things into the country due to the absence of the fence.
He told Mmegi that smuggling syndicates are using illegal entry and exits points to smuggle drugs, guns, to mention but a few, challenging the two States to respond to the matter before the situation gets worse.
Segokgo said that his area is experiencing alarming incidents of cross-border smuggling of drugs by locals and illegal immigrants from the South African side. He also said that farmers in Tlokweng were losing a lot of money after their cattle have crossed into South Africa.
“In some parts, there is no fence completely. Poor people’s livestock easily crosses over to South Africa. In some parts, it appears that some people have destroyed the fence in order to cross easily to avoid paying tax at Tlokweng border post.
The absence of the fence has also resulted in an increase in other crimes such as theft that continue to rise in the area,” Segokgo said.
He said that some strangers have reportedly been seen roaming around Tlokweng with locals suspecting that it might be foreigners who had illegally crossed into the country to look for crime opportunities.
Of recent, the police revealed that South African drug barons were controlling the country’s drug market because they have established that they were the ones who illegally crossed the border into the country with the drugs. On their ongoing raids, the police have arrested illegal immigrants and locals who connive to smuggle drugs across the border.