REPORTS that some farmers from Botswana allegedly crossed the border into Zimbabwe illegally and drove away some donkeys they claimed belonged to them are serious cause for concern.
It is intriguing that the Bostwana nationals crossed the border, not only once but twice undetected with donkeys on tow.
According to the Botswana News Agency, police in that country are investigating the incident that happened on July 13 in areas bordering Bobonong.
The investigation was prompted by reports from Zimbabwean police about the incident.
A fortnight ago the Thematic Committee on Peace and Security presented a report on the status of the country’s borders, human trafficking and smuggling in the Senate, which revealed that there was a time bomb on the Zimbabwe borders.
The government is losing millions of dollars in potential revenue as smugglers have found an easy way of evading customs duty. Scores of people also lose their lives trying to cross the border to South Africa or Botswana through illegal entry points.
There are gangs that operate along the borders with impunity because security forces are not visible on the ground. Cross-border crime is real and it is known that Botswana farmers have lost livestock from criminals from Zimbabwe, but that does not justify the fact that they took the law into their own hands.
Police from both sides of the border should have been the ones tracking down the livestock if there was any need to.
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The incident serves to illustrate further the lawlessness on Zimbabwe’s borders that needs urgent attention.
What makes the Botswana problem peculiar is that the area has suffered the brunt of the foot and mouth disease, which is difficult to control.
Animal movement should be strictly controlled to contain the disease and from that incident it is evident that no such controls exist.
Police should take the illegal raid on the Kezi village by Batswana farmers very seriously and the culprits should be brought to book.
