Thinking Out Loud

The journey between Johannesburg and Gaborone by coach forms part of my route activity back home from my sojourns to the Eastern Cape. It accords me five hours with which to immerse myself in the day’s newspapers interspersed with quiet moments of reflection. The majority of my fellow passengers on these trips are students studying in South Africa, small business entrepreneurs and backpack tourists. Upon entry at the Tlokweng border gate, I am delightfully consumed with anticipation of my reunion with family and friends.

The client processing time frames at this border gate have been aptly described as excellent in the web publications of certain regional tour operators. Service is expeditious at Immigration; I breeze through amidst the friendly smiles and amiable chirping of staff. However, the same cannot be said about their colleagues at Customs, the frosty reception by the tired and angry-looking Customs and at times Botswana Defence Force officials at this point of entry reflects a disturbing ethical and quality compromise of service delivery by these entities. The “Big brother” deportment of these officials coupled with the impropriety of their over-exuberant searches and privacy torts on public transport passengers is a poignant violation of fundamental human rights and personal freedoms. The inhospitable reception here bears inept professional, moral and material support for the promotion of the country as the preferred trade, tourism and investment location in the region. It taints the sparkle of, “The Jewel of Africa.”

Having endured these tacky searches on countless transitions through this gate, it would appear from their persistence that their nuisance value has been lost on the authorities. I muse over the country’s challenge of balancing the obligations of national safety and security with fundamental human rights and personal freedoms. Surely the creation of a strong social marketing presence that builds a welcoming climate for trade, tourism and foreign investment as the key drivers for the country’s economic development and integration into the global economy calls on these officials to adhere to strict professionalism and respect for human rights and dignity in the course of their duty. It calls on them to temper the necessary safety and security procedures and customs protocols with a decent measure of ethical and moral rectitude.

The search for equilibrium in maintaining national security and the observance of etiquette that affirms fundamental human rights by the state is not peculiar to Botswana. Structural and strategic shifts in the geo-political, economic and technological positioning of the world have resulted in the growing ease of mobility in the present epoch. Regrettably, the inadvertent attendant to this global interconnectivity has been the spectre of terrorism that haunts the world and the medley of vices such as the evasion of customs and excise duties and human, drug and arms smuggling. Since the 9/11 terror attacks on New York and the subsequent bombings on Madrid and London, the West on cue from the US has increasingly sacrificed civil liberties for national security, contravening the International Covenant on Civil Rights. Invariably, this phenomenon has not escaped the developing world that is following suit. However, while I appreciate border searches as a small price to pay for national safety and security, I believe counter-terrorism and Customs and Excise measures become troubling when they are selectively implemented and tip the balance dramatically in favour of transforming regulatory measures into humiliating exercises that strip individuals of their intrinsic right to privacy and human dignity.

Evidence of this unravelling fault line is emerging in the repertoire of Customs and army officials at the Tlokweng border gate. Curiously, travellers in private vehicles are graciously ushered through customs without any of the officials batting an eyelid. On the other hand however, the indiscretion of the searches on personal belongings of the public transport passengers by these officials is incredibly humiliating and undermines the inherent values of common decency. The ostentatious temperament of the officials as they sift through and pluck out intimate garments from the passengers’ luggage right there in the open, has always been a source of concern and immense discomfort and humiliation for myself and fellow passengers. The indignity and embarrassment that this reckless affront on passenger’s rights occasions is beyond words. For a man to search a woman’s travel bag and obtrusively shuffle through their underpants in public, in the manner they do at this border gate is bereft of the decorum of moral rectitude and professional work ethic. It impinges on civil liberties and negates the ideals of compassion, justice and caring that are espoused in the national re-engineering plan Vision 2016.

In an era of unrivalled global interconnectivity that most enterprising democracies have harnessed to bolster trade and tourism, our sluggish economy and soaring unemployment can ill afford tawdry front line operations by Customs and the army that blemish the Botswana brand equity and reputation. Tourism and trade are perhaps the enterprises that can leverage the country’s competitive edge in the global economy. The service of officials working at our border posts form the first and lasting impressions that may heighten or diminish our national appeal as a competitive trade, tourism and investment destination. They play the critical role of national gate keeper which extends beyond enforcing Customs and counter-terrorism measures to include supporting and facilitating in-bound investors including the small, medium and micro entrepreneurs whose inter-trading among countries of the region is the currency for local economic development. It is incumbent upon the front office personnel at our border posts to be attuned to the ancillary role they play in supporting and promoting trade and tourism and that in the service industry, the fundamental principles of best value, quality and sublime service form the bedrock on which the industry is built. A lot of business in the industry comes from referrals by happy and satisfied customers and this cannot be said about service delivery by Customs and the BDF at the Tlokweng border gate.

Botswana boasts a unique natural and cultural heritage, however the country will have to spruce up its service delivery with courteous staff disposition and professional work ethic to look its best if it is to sharpen its competitive edge in the fiercely contested tourism industry and attract the much sought foreign direct investment suitors.

A customer-oriented approach with service policies and procedures that will balance national security imperatives with the protection of civil liberties is required to guarantee the dignity and honour of those visiting our shores. Such a plan should remedy the unsavoury, reckless and painfully humiliating reception currently meted out to public transport passengers at the Tlokweng border gate and mitigate the threats the prevailing adversarial searches by Customs and the army pose to the allure of Botswana as a vibrant trade, tourism and investment friendly destination in the region. Lessons can be drawn from how poor service delivery and overbearing Customs protocols shifted the Victoria Falls from Zimbabwe to Zambia. We can ignore these at our peril.

Tigele Mokobi
Eastern Cape
South Africa