Has Botswana Cut Off Electricity Supply And Closed Its Borders To South Africa?
Facebook blogger, African Eye Reporters, claims that Botswana has cut off electricity supply to South Africa and ordered border closure, as a retaliation to xenophobic attacks in South Africa. The post, which has collage images of Botswana president, Duma Boko, and his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, is captioned:
When this report was published, the post had over 57,200 reactions, comments and shares.
VERIFICATION
The energy relationship between Botswana and South Africa is largely the opposite of what is claimed. Botswana imports a significant portion of its electricity from South Africa, via Eskom, a South African electricity public utility. South Africa has long been the dominant electricity producer in the region, despite its own supply challenges.
Electricity in South Africa is dominated by Eskom, which generates about 95% of the country’s electricity and also handles transmission and distribution. South Africa exported about 12.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2023. However, exports typically account for only a small share, around 5–6%, of total electricity supply. These electricity exports are mainly through Eskom to several neighbouring countries including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These exports are part of regional power-sharing arrangements within the Southern African Power Pool, a network that allows countries to buy and sell electricity across borders.
There is no current report confirming that Botswana has shut its borders to South Africa. Border closures between the two countries are rare, and typically temporary and localised, such as during flooding or isolated unrest, not nationwide political actions. The Botswana government’s official platforms do not mention any such directive.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Botswana has cut electricity to South Africa and closed its borders is FALSE. Botswana imports a significant portion of its electricity from South Africa, particularly via Eskom and there is no evidence to support the claim that Botswana has shut its borders to South Africa.
