Streamline border controls, Zimbabwe told

MEETINGS of the Zimbabwe/South Africa Joint Co-operation Commission entered their second day yesterday with negotiators from Zimbabwe pushing for the streamlining of immigration controls to allow for the smooth movement of people between the two countries.

The negotiators also called for the easing of importation conditions for Zimbabwean pharmaceutical products entering the South African market and the conclusion of the documentation process of Zimbabweans living in South Africa, among other issues.

Zimbabwe's Secretary for Foreign Affairs and co-chair of the senior officials meetings, Ambassador Joey Bimha, told The Herald that tremendous progress had been made in reaching agreement by the three clusters on economic issues, social issues and political and diplomatic issues that were engaged in the negotiations. He said the political and diplomacy cluster had concluded its discussions, which included the need for closer political consultation between the two countries on issues of common interest.

The economic cluster, which was co-chaired by the Secretary for Regional Integration and International Co-operation, Mr Tedious Chifamba, and included the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority commissioner general Mr Gershem Pasi, looked at the proposed one-stop border post between Zimbabwe and South Africa at Beitbridge.

Zimbabweans were concerned at some impediments for local companies exporting pharmaceutical products to South Africa through Beitbridge border post.

The current regulations are that OR Tambo Airport was the only port of entry for such products, which was, however, costly for Zimbabwean exporters.

The Zimbabwean negotiators were pushing for this to be changed to include Beitbridge and other ports of entry into South Africa.

"We are hoping that South Africa will relax the prohibition."

The social cluster, which included Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede, dealt with issues of immigration between the two countries.

"While there are no visa regulations any more, there was a request that we need to streamline the operations of our officers manning the border posts so that there is smooth movement of our people," said Ambassador Bimha.

The cluster also had lengthy deliberations on the documentation of Zimbabweans who were not involved in the last registration process that was conducted in South Africa last year.

Ambassador Bimha said it was understood that there were many Zimbabweans in South African prisons who did not have any documentation to ascertain their nationality.

"The South Africans are looking at how many prisoners we have and if there is a substantial number we will go and document those prisoners," he said.

The joint commission meetings, which are expected to end today, have attracted officials from various Government ministries, State and private institutions.