In a written answer to Botswana's Parliament, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs laid out a count that has long sat unspoken beneath the country's migration debates: since 2018, citizens of Zimbabwe have received nearly half of all citizenship grants made to foreigners. Of 5,957 successful applicants, 2,947 were Zimbabwean, and with South Africans close behind, the two neighbouring nations together make up more than seven in every ten new citizens. The figures tell us who has been welcomed into the national family, yet they fall silent on the more intimate question of how most arrived, le
Zimbabweans Lead Botswana Citizenship Grants Since 2018, Official Figures Show
The numbers show who received citizenship, but not how.
Mark
Zimbabweans got almost half of all Botswana citizenship grants since 2018. How big is that?
Mimi
2,947 out of 5,957, about 49.5%. South Africans were next with 1,327, so Zimbabweans got more than double that.
Mark
And the two together?
Mimi
4,274 grants, around 71.7% of everything granted.
Luke
Those numbers come from one ministerial reply in Parliament. They are the government's own count, and I haven't seen an independent check.
Mark
Why did so many people get citizenship?
Mimi
The minister indicated most grants were through marriage. Foreign spouses can apply after meeting residency requirements, generally five years according to a 2025 report.
Luke
Careful, though. That is for the total. The reply didn't say how many Zimbabweans came through marriage, so we can't say that explains their share.
Mark
Can the residency rule be bent?
Mimi
The minister indicated it can be waived or reduced in special circumstances, and a Citizenship Committee assesses applicants.
Luke
We don't know how often waivers were used, or the period's exact end date. Those are open questions.
Mark
So what does the story actually tell us?
Mimi
Who was granted citizenship, in clear numbers. The why is still partly missing.
Der Puls
- A parliamentary reply has pulled into public view a count that many had only guessed at, and the numbers are stark.
- Zimbabweans hold nearly half of all foreign citizenship grants since 2018, with South Africans a distant second.
- The minister says most grants came through marriage, but the reply does not reveal how many Zimbabwean cases that covers.
- Officials point to a five-year residency rule that can be waived in special cases, while a Citizenship Committee weighs each application.
- The totals are settled, but the route behind the Zimbabwean figures remains open, and the next disclosure will decide how the story reads.
In a written answer to Botswana's Parliament, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs laid out a count that has long sat unspoken beneath the country's migration debates: since 2018, citizens of Zimbabwe have received nearly half of all citizenship grants made to foreigners. Of 5,957 successful applicants, 2,947 were Zimbabwean, and with South Africans close behind, the two neighbouring nations together make up more than seven in every ten new citizens. The figures tell us who has been welcomed into the national family, yet they fall silent on the more intimate question of how most arrived, leaving the story of belonging only partly told.
A written reply to Parliament from Botswana's Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Major General (Rtd) Pius Mokgware, has put firm numbers on a question that has lingered over the country's migration debate: who has been granted citizenship in recent years. The answer, given to a question from Kgosi Khama IV of Ga-Mmangwato, is that Zimbabweans lead the list by a wide margin.
Between 2018 and the period covered by the question, Botswana granted citizenship to 5,957 foreign nationals. Of these, 2,947 were Zimbabweans, close to half of all successful applicants. South Africans followed with 1,327. India, Zambia, Angola and a long tail of other nations trailed far behind. Together, Zimbabweans and South Africans account for roughly 71.7% of all grants, a sign of how deeply the citizenship rolls draw on the two neighbours.
Mokgware indicated that most acquisitions came through marriage, which the Citizenship Act permits once foreign spouses meet residency requirements. Earlier reporting from August 2025 noted a general expectation of at least five years' residence, with room for waivers in special circumstances. Each application is assessed by a Citizenship Committee.
The reply leaves a significant gap. It does not say how many of the Zimbabwean grants were through marriage, so the totals reveal who became citizens but not how most of them did. The next disclosure, particularly a breakdown by route for the two largest groups, will determine whether the human story behind these numbers becomes clearer.
In a written reply to Parliament, Botswana's Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Major General (Rtd) Pius Mokgware, put numbers on a question that has hung over the country's migration debate: who, exactly, has been granted citizenship in recent years. The answer, given in response to a question from Kgosi Khama IV of Ga-Mmangwato, is that Zimbabweans lead the list by a wide margin.
According to the minister, Botswana granted citizenship to 5,957 foreign nationals from 2018 through the period covered by the question. Of those, 2,947 were Zimbabweans, roughly 49.5% of all successful foreign applicants. South Africans came second with 1,327, or about 22.3%.
The rest of the list falls away sharply. India was third with 320 people, followed by Zambia with 209 and Angola with 142. Malawi recorded 103, Lesotho 101, the Democratic Republic of Congo 66, Namibia 64, Kenya 62, Pakistan 53 and Britain 50.
Put together, Zimbabweans and South Africans account for 4,274 of the 5,957 grants, about 71.7% of the total. The figures show how heavily the citizenship rolls draw on Botswana's two southern neighbours.
Mokgware indicated that most of the acquisitions during the period came through marriage. Botswana's Citizenship Act allows foreign spouses of citizens to apply once they meet specified residency requirements. In August 2025, the state-owned DailyNews reported that Mokgware had told Parliament that foreign spouses generally needed to have lived in Botswana for at least five years before qualifying. He also indicated that this requirement could be waived or shortened in special circumstances. Applicants are assessed by a Citizenship Committee and must meet the conditions set out in law.
The parliamentary response has a notable gap. It did not say how many of the 2,947 Zimbabweans obtained citizenship through marriage, so the figures cannot show how much of the Zimbabwean total reflects marriage and how much reflects other routes. The numbers tell us who received citizenship, but not, for Zimbabweans specifically, how.
What to watch for is whether further disclosure breaks the figures down by route, particularly for the two largest groups. Until then, the totals are clear, and the reasons behind them are only partly documented.
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Most citizenship acquisitions in the period were through marriage, though no breakdown for Zimbabweans was given.— Pius Mokgware, Botswana Minister of Labour and Home Affairs (paraphrased)
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