Leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have agreed to deepen regional integration in an effort to curb illegal migration as anti-foreigner sentiment rises in South Africa.
The steps agreed to among SADC members include the ramped-up use of technology at border crossings. Officials also acknowledged the need to develop cross-country special economic zones.
Anti-immigrant protests, fuelled by high unemployment and overstretched public services, have flared in parts of South Africa for years, including some that turned deadly in 2018, and have intensified in recent months.
“We are dealing with an economic challenge, and if we are dealing with an economic challenge, we need special economic zones across, and even closer to, our borders,” Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s minister of foreign affairs, said on Sunday.
Lamola said the nations should explore possibilities for cross-border coordination of special economic zones to boost job creation and growth.
The South African official hosted his counterparts over the weekend at Skukuza, a retreat in Kruger National Park in the eastern province of Mpumalanga.
The meeting was also focused on assessing the impact of the war in Iran and its related high energy prices on economies making up the southern development community.
Countries in the region, most of which are importers of oil and fertilizers, face higher import bills, adding pressure to already strained public finances.
The region is also grappling with accelerating inflation, exchange rate volatility, and rising risks to food and energy security.
The ministers backed stronger domestic resource mobilisation and better public debt management, said Elias Magosi, executive secretary of the bloc.
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