Fact check: Do Zimbabweans still need passports for Botswana travel?

Claim: Social media reports circulating mostly on WhatsApp platforms claim that Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has removed passport requirements for Zimbabweans to travel to Botswana. The reports claim that Zimbabweans and Batswana now only need their National Identity Cards to cross borders between the two Southern African countries.

Is this true or false?

Verdict: False

The claim is false. Publicly available information shows that President Masisi of Botswana is considering approaching Zimbabwe to discuss the removal of passport use between the two countries so that nationals of both countries use identification cards only to cross borders.

Both the Zimbabwe and Botswana government have not officially published details concerning the issue of scrapping passports between Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Conclusion

The much-circulated information saying that Botswana has scrapped passport requirements for Zimbabweans is misleading as this is still at proposal stage after President Masisi indicated his intention to engage President Mnangagwa over the issue. Currently, Namibia is the only country that has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Botswana to permit citizens of the two republics to use national identification cards to cross borders.