by Bayano Valy – SANF 05 no 41
The signing of a no-visa agreement between Mozambique and South Africa not only opens the way for either country’s citizens to travel freely, but represents a major step towards the implementation of the regional trade protocol.
The agreement was the culmination of lengthy negotiations started under the previous Mozambican government led by President Joaquim Chissano, with South African authorities.
With effect from 18 April, citizens of either country can now travel to the border and upon presenting a valid passport be waved in.
The two countries’ tourists and businesspeople can freely move across the border for up to 30 days, and the period can be extended if there is a good reason such as when one is seeking medical attention.
The free movement of people and goods is one of the rationales behind the Southern African Development Community (SADC) whose member states signed the Trade Protocol in 1996.
The Trade Protocol, whose implementation officially began in 2000, will establish a Free Trade Area by 2008. This will significantly improve the region’s potential to create some 1.5 million new job opportunities for its population, predicts the organisation.
Thus the signing of the no-visa agreement by Mozambican Interior Minister, José Pacheco, and his South African counterpart, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, under the watchful eyes of presidents Armando Guebuza and Thabo Mbeki, marked a positive, significant phase of regional cooperation.
Apart from saving citizens from enduring long delays, the agreement will also save money, obtaining a visa would take 24 hours and would cost Mozambicans about US$70, and South Africans about US$14.
The Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative said in a press statement that the agreement will “reduce the cost of doing business in the region and encourage economic growth for both South Africa and Mozambique.”
“The cost, complexity and requirements for visas have for a long time been listed as one of the high level constraints on our corridor by the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative freight logistics stakeholders,” the release added.
“Tourist and other organised business bodies are delighted that this is now resolved for the good of the economy of both our countries,” it said.
Although this is only a bilateral agreement, it does send a strong signal to the rest of the region of political will to facilitate cross-border cooperation.
Mozambican National Migration Director told journalists that the “protocol (no-visa agreement) that has just taken effect is bilateral, but can encourage other countries towards facing the free movement within SADC with more optimism.”
The free movement of people is seen as a tool that could bolster the case for strengthening cultural, economic and social ties within the region.
SADC has been adopting a gradual pace towards implementing a Free Movement of Persons Protocol. Talks formally started in July 1993 in Harare at a regional workshop, and this was followed at the SADC Council of Ministers meeting in Swaziland in July 1994.
Subsequently, a team of consultants was assigned to explore the issue further and submitted the 1995 Draft Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons in the Southern African Development Community. The 1995 draft protocol was substituted by another version in 1997.
However, it would appear the process towards the protocol has since lost momentum.
Negotiations on free movement of people are often sticky. For instance it took the European Union several decades to have a binding treaty allowing citizens to move freely across borders, but even then there are still some countries like Great Britain who are not part of it. (SARDC)
