- Report shows Zimbabweans account for 98% of irregular migrants in Botswana
BONGANI MALUNGA
President Duma Boko has outlined plans to legalise undocumented Zimbabwean migrants by giving them temporary work and residence permit.
Boko said the idea is borne out of a need to facilitate skills transfer to Batswana since Zimbabweans are primary players in construction, plumbing and welding.
He stated that in other cases, Zimbabweans do odd jobs not preferred by Batswana.
Access to amenities
The President made these remarks in an appearance on BBC Africa’s daily podcast last weekend. “They do jobs that would otherwise not get done,” he said.
“They come in and are undocumented. Then their access to amenities is limited, if it is available at all, and what they then do is live outside the law and commit crimes.
“This brings resentment. What we need to do is to formalise, have a proper arrangement that recognises that people from Zimbabwe are already here.”
Twin programme
The President has proposed establishment of a twin programme that entails using the workmanship of Zimbabweans while transferring their skills to Batswana.
“In any and every construction site in Botswana, the majority of people with those skills are from Zimbabwe,” he noted.
“We need to do a twin programme of allowing them to come in and we utilise the skills that they have and in the process of utilising these skills we also engage in some sort of skills transfer.”
“We can’t stop people with skills from coming in when we don’t have the skills ourselves. We need to develop these skills and it takes time.
Properly and legally
“So in the interregnum we need to have them come in properly, legally and to be rewarded appropriately for the skills that they bring.”
According to a ministerial report published earlier this year, Zimbabweans account for 98 percent of irregular migrants in Botswana.
Former Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Annah Mokgethi, told Parliament that from 2021 to 2023, Zimbabweans accounted 13 189 out of 13 489 irregular migrants in the system.