Botswana’s new president has told the BBC he wants undocumented Zimbabweans to be legalized by granting them temporary work and residence permits.
“They are doing work that would otherwise not be done,” Duma Boko told the BBC Africa Daily podcast on Friday before his historic inauguration.
Botswana is home to the world’s second largest community of Zimbabweans fleeing their country’s economic woes – and they are often resented as deportations occur daily.
The decision is unlikely to be popular in the diamond-rich southern African country, but 54-year-old Boko, who has just ousted the ruling party that had been in power for 58 years, said it was part of his plans to overhaul the economy. to breathe life into.
President Boko said it was a challenge as thousands of Zimbabweans entered Botswana through the long and porous border between the two countries.
“They come in and have no papers. Then their access to services is limited, if they are available at all, and what they do is they live outside the law and commit crimes – and that brings resentment,” he said.
“So what we need to do is formalize, make a good arrangement that recognizes that people from Zimbabwe are already here.”
It is unclear exactly how many Zimbabweans are in Botswana, but thousands have moved back and forth since Zimbabwe’s economy imploded two decades ago due to hyperinflation. Some have also sought political refuge.
Available statistics show that Zimbabweans make up 98% of what are termed ‘irregular migrants’.
In response to a parliamentary question earlier this year, a minister said that from 2021 to 2023, of the total 13,489 registered persons, 13,189 were Zimbabwean citizens.
Every day, police stations across the country organize deportations of Zimbabweans arrested for being undocumented or involved in crimes.
They tend to perform cheap labor, often as domestic servants and agricultural laborers.
“Many of these workers from Zimbabwe perform tasks that citizens find unattractive. They do work that would otherwise not be done and so there is no conflict,” Boko said.
However, there was backlash against the government late last year after it proposed using identity cards instead of passports for those traveling between Botswana and Zimbabwe.
The general feeling was that this move would lead to the arrival of more Zimbabweans.
But President Boko told the BBC Africa Daily podcast that his initiative would also be an opportunity for his countrymen to learn basic skills, such as welding and plumbing, from Zimbabweans.
“On every construction site in Botswana the majority of people with these skills come from Zimbabwe so we have to put in place a dual program to bring them in and we use the skills that they have and in the process of utilizing these skills we adhere also engaged in a kind of transfer of skills,” he said.
“We can’t prevent people with skills from coming in if we don’t have the skills ourselves. We need to develop these skills and that takes time, so in the interregnum we need to make sure they come in the right way, come in legally and are rewarded appropriately for the skills they bring.”
Boko, a human rights lawyer who founded the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) party in 2012, goes to great lengths to show that he is a man of the people and encourages colleagues around him to take selfies.
He says his intention is to break down barriers and “ensure that everyone has easy access, not only to get close, but also to contribute ideas and suggestions.”
His main focus – and the reason behind his victory – is his promise to improve the economy.
He says one of his first steps will be to sign a new deal with global diamond giant De Beers.
Boko believes the deal has been jeopardized because of the way his predecessor handled the diamond sale negotiations.
If diamond revenues are assured, investors would have confidence in Botswana, which would make the country money, Boko told the BBC Africa Daily podcast.
This would support its ambition to create jobs – 100,000 per year over the next five years.
“We are facing an unemployment crisis. For a population of 2.4 million people, with almost 30% of those people unemployed, it is a crisis. It’s a ticking time bomb,” he said.
Along with his proposal to share skills raised by Zimbabweans, the new president added that he wanted young people to go into business “to become entrepreneurs, employ themselves and employ others”.
“What they need from government is access to affordable finance and access to markets, and government should facilitate these,” Boko said.
His inauguration will take place on Friday at the national stadium in the capital Gaborone – which has been declared a public holiday – and international dignitaries are expected to attend.
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