By Akani Nkuna
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola has called for deeper infrastructure integration between South Africa and Zimbabwe, saying improved road, rail and border systems would strengthen trade and the movement of goods across the region.
Lamola was speaking in Pretoria on Thursday at the ministerial meeting of the Fourth South Africa-Zimbabwe Bi-National Commission (BNC), ahead of the heads-of-state session between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa scheduled for Friday.
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The BNC is reviewing progress on commitments made between the two countries and identifying areas in which bilateral cooperation can be expanded. The previous heads-of-state session of the commission was held in Harare in March 2019.
“We should use this shared geographical and economic advantage to deepen cooperation along the corridor, including through modernisation and expansion of road and rail infrastructure — the improvement of border management systems, the development of logistics facilities and strengthening of connectivity with ports and regional markets,” he said.
“Infrastructure connectivity must also extend beyond transport. We should strengthen cooperation in water resource management and water security, including infrastructure that supports reliable access to water for communities, agriculture and industry. We should also explore opportunities to improve digital connectivity.”
The two countries share extensive economic, political and social ties, with agriculture, trade, infrastructure, migration and regional development among the issues being considered through the BNC.
Lamola also highlighted the historical “bonds” formed through their respective liberation struggles, saying that history continued to underpin relations between Pretoria and Harare.
He said, however, that contemporary challenges required the countries to focus on improving access to education, healthcare, electricity, safe drinking water and sanitation, while expanding economic opportunities.
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“Our objectives should be to build partnerships that generate investment, expand production, create employment and strengthen the reliance of our economies,” Lamola said.
Migration is another significant aspect of relations between the neighbouring countries.
South Africa is by far the main destination for Zimbabwean emigrants. Zimbabwe’s 2022 census recorded about 85% of its emigrants as living in South Africa, while South Africa’s 2022 census also identified Zimbabweans as the country’s largest group of international migrants.
Lamola described movement between the two countries as a long-established feature of their relationship, saying it “is a long standing feature”, while stressing the importance of safe and legal movement of people and goods and continued cooperation on border governance.
“Ultimately, peaceful coexistence amongst our people is closely tied to our ability to expand economic opportunity and prosperity across the region. We should work toward a Southern Africa in which mobility is increasingly driven by choice and opportunities rather than economic compulsion,” said Lamola.
South Africa was Zimbabwe’s second-largest export destination in 2025, while Zimbabwe was South Africa’s second-largest agricultural export market globally and its largest agricultural export destination in Africa, according to official trade data.
Lamola said the strength of agricultural trade between the countries was partly linked to their proximity and similar consumer preferences, and called for further economic cooperation.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Amon Murwira, meanwhile, said relations between the two countries should not be undermined by “external forces”.
Murwira said Zimbabwe remained committed to its economic relationship with South Africa and called for greater cooperation in areas including science, technology, culture and innovation.
He identified poverty and economic stagnation as among the major challenges confronting the two countries and the region, while rejecting attempts to pit governments against one another.
“We will resist any force, external or internal, overt or covert, done by hook or crook, that seeks to divide us. We are not going to be divided. Zimbabwe and SA are one people, it is not wishful thinking,” Murwira said.
