Tetchy cross-border relations with Botswana

A packed minibus stops at the Plumtree border about 100 km southwest of Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, where the commuters alight and head for the immigration post. A few stride confidently towards the building for a quick passage to the buses that will take them across the Zimbabwe/Botswana border, while the rest amble forward nervously, anticipating hassles by the Batswana immigration officers. "Travelling on weekends is less of an ordeal, when immigration officials are exhausted and less alert," said 28-year-old Pamela Tshuma, a regular traveler who works as a hairstylist and informal trader in Botswana's capital, Gaborone. Pamela plaits hair at 30 pula (US $5) a head in the suburbs of Gaborone. "If one works hard and is lucky to get customers, it is possible to make 3,000 pula a month (US $605), which translates into a lot of money back home," she explains. Zimbabweans have been making shopping trips to Botswana for almost three decades, but the steadily deteriorating economic conditions in their country have caused thousands, both skilled and unskilled, to trek to Botswana's cities, towns and mines in search of jobs. Many enter the country illegally along secret paths in the dead of night. Although scores of them are deported every week, the desperate Zimbabweans still find it worthwhile to sneak back into the country in search of opportunities and a better life. Recent media reports on the alleged ill-treatment of Zimbabweans by Batswana nationals have soured relations between the two countries. In turn, the Zimbabwean authorities have accused Botswana of hosting a Voice of America radio transmitter that broadcasts "hostile propaganda aimed at regime change by the Americans", beamed at Zimbabwe by exiles. Botswana has denied any wrongdoing. On presenting his credentials to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe recently, Botswana's new envoy to Zimbabwe explained that the radio transmitter had been in operation for the past 25 years, and scoffed at the alleged ill treatment of Zimbawean nationals. "It is a traditional custom in Botswana for traditional chiefs to flog petty criminals. We don't put people in prison for petty crimes." Bostwana's foreign affairs spokesman, Cliff Maribe, accused sections of Zimbabwe's media of "fuelling misguided xenophobia", saying: "Botswana has noted with growing concern openly hostile reports against the government and the people of Botswana, which can only be interpreted as a deliberate and systematic attempt to fuel hatred and xenophobia between our people." Tsokolo Matibeli, a Zimbabwean electrical engineer working in Botswana told IRIN: "It is those people who have no residence permits, those that overstay and the illegal immigrants who face problems with the authorities - like in any other country." Pamela commented: "Naturally, people view foreigners with disdain - that cannot be taken as xenophobia." But Zimbabwean traders and job seekers in Botswana are afraid the recent stand-off between the two countries could jeopardise what has become a lifeline for their families. "I hope accusations do not develop into retaliatory actions. Botswana is the only country in SADC [Southern African Development Community] that does not require entry visas, unlike South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia," observed Nkululi Langa, a Zimbabwean motor spare parts dealer who frequently visits Botswana.