Khama accuses SA of undermining regional industrialisation

Former Botswana president Seretse Khama Ian Khama has accused South Africa of deliberately undermining industrialisation efforts in smaller Southern African Customs Union (SACU) economies to protect its position as the region's dominant producer.Speaking on the Growth Well Podcast, Khama said South Africa had used its economic influence to frustrate attempts by neighbouring countries, including Botswana and Namibia, to develop their manufacturing industries.He said the issue had been raised directly with South African officials at the first SACU summit attended by heads of state, after the organisation had previously met only at ministerial level.Khama said the meeting took place during his presidency and that of South Africa's then president Jacob Zuma.“I can remember that first meeting in South Africa. It was attended by me, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili from Lesotho and President Hifikepunye Pohamba from Namibia. We spoke to the South Africans about how they had deliberately undermined our ability to manufacture and industrialise because they wanted to be the producers,” Khama said.He said South Africa wanted to retain its position as the region's dominant producer, leaving other SACU members and the rest of Africa to consume its products.Khama cited Botswana's Hyundai vehicle assembly plant and Namibia's cement industry as examples of what he described as South Africa's efforts to undermine industrial development in neighbouring countries.“We gave examples of Hyundai in our case, of how Hyundai needed to export into South Africa. A certain number of vehicles needed to break even or make a profit, and South Africa reduced that figure. That is how Hyundai failed,” Khama said.“Lesotho had the same problem with producing televisions. Namibia told us about how they had bought in a cement factory to produce cement for their country. As soon as they started, South Africa started dumping cheap cement in their country. So those are the things we confronted,” he added.Khama's earlier warningKhama has previously raised concerns about South Africa's economic dominance in the region.In 2018, while attending the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries congress in Bulawayo, he called on countries to diversify their economies and strengthen protective measures against competition from powerful South African brands.“We talk about diversification of the economy, but we are in competition with everyone else, sometimes for the same product. And then you have a big neighbour like South Africa next door who, because of the state of their development, exceeds all of ours,” he said.“That also in itself becomes a challenge when you see you are competing for the same thing, but they have an advantage with all the state of infrastructure development.”Geingob also criticised SACUNamibia's late president Hage Geingob also expressed concern about South Africa's dominance within SACU, arguing that the union's arrangements favoured its largest economy at the expense of smaller members.“The other problem is SACU. We are like beggars there. We cannot import. We cannot industrialise. Look at Peugeot, it is going down,” Geingob said.French carmaker Peugeot subsequently became embroiled in a legal dispute with the Namibian government over the collapse of its vehicle assembly venture at Walvis Bay.According to the particulars of claim, Peugeot sued the government over its alleged failure to ensure that Peugeot Opel Assembly Namibia would be exempt from excise and customs duties, taxes and levies on vehicles assembled locally and exported to other SACU and Southern African Development Community (SADC) markets.Peugeot signed an agreement with the Namibian government in February 2018, represented by the Namibia Industrial Development Agency and the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade, committing the government to supporting its investment in the country, the court documents said.Geingob also questioned the future of the customs union, calling for a review of its arrangements with South Africa.“As long as the SACU tariff issues are not going to be reconciled and democratically decided as we agreed … South Africa plays the game. We have to seriously look at the future of SACU,” he said.

Khama accuses SA of undermining regional industrialisation

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-11-12

Please login to leave a comment

Khama accuses SA of undermining regional industrialisation

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-11-12

Please login to leave a comment

Subscription Required to Access Content ×

Login

Subscription Required to Access Content