Motshekga calls for SA-Mozambique cooperation to ease border movement

Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga has called for close cooperation between the governments of South Africa and Mozambique to ease the movement of citizens between the two countries.

Motshekga is among the dignitaries attending the 40th anniversary of the tragic airplane crash that claimed the life of former Mozambique President Samora Machel in Mbuzini, Mpumalanga.

Citizens of Mozambique and South Africa, led by their respective heads of state, will on Monday commemorate the 40th anniversary of the plane crash that claimed the life of former Mozambican President Samora Machel. https://t.co/EK4yZ8Gdwb https://t.co/iEWxldpr34

— SABC News (@SABCNews) October 19, 2026

Speaking to the media, Motshekga said artificial borders are just a legacy of colonisation.

Motshekga says, “It’s a very difficult one, to be honest, because you see the fence here, it’s actually an artificial border because it’s even people who are separated by apartheid. The other family is that side, the other family is that side. So, it’s like really trying to look after a river. But unfortunately, because of the situation now, we find ourselves having to guard what should not be guarded. Something that needs both countries to work economically so that people who have homes in Mozambique can work in South Africa and go home over the weekend and not close them in and out because if you lock them, then they end up developing a life in South Africa and not going back home.”