Border jam as SA battles to clear haulage traffic ...

Border jam as SA battles to clear haulage traffic flow from Zim

Zim Now Writer

Commercial cargo destined for regional and international markets is piling up at the Zimbabwean side of the Beitbridge border after the South Africans ran out of parking space at their side of the border.

Truck drivers said they had spent more than 24 hours trying to cross into South Africa.

“I have managed to drive for less than 4km in the last 24 hours. The queue is long and static,” said Josenzigose Mazvila, a Mozambican driver.

A driver from Bulawayo, Sihlobo Mthembo, said they were yet to get feedback from local border authorities on the way forward.

“As you can see, we hardly slept, we have been pushing towards the border and since I arrived at 5am on Monday. I managed to drive towards the border in this slow-moving queue for only 2km,” he said.

Another driver, Sydney Mutetwa said his employer was worried because he had taken longer than usual to cross the border.

He said he had completed all the documentation in Zimbabwe and was only waiting to cross into South Africa.

Under normal circumstances, it takes less than three hours for trucks to clear on both the Zimbabwean and South African side of the border.

Border officials have said that the US$300 million upgrade means the customs yard in Zimbabwe is now able to hold up to 200 trucks at any given time but the yet-to-be-upgraded South African side cannot handle the volumes.

“What is happening is that our counterparts have created more clearance points for non-commercial traffic which has drastically increased and they have asked us to hold the trucks and send them in batches of 20 to 30 trucks at a time,” said a Zimbabwean border official.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority uses the preclearance system where imports or exports are processed at the Documented Processing Centres before they reach the desired port of entry or exit also makes for more efficiency.

South Africa’s Border Management Authority spokesperson Stephen van Zeel said on Monday that they had opened more workstations at the border post to clear the rising non-commercial traffic.

“We are ready to handle the traffic through the Beitbridge border post where we have started to witness an increase in non-commercial traffic,” he said.

“So, we have deployed more immigration officers from less busy stations and opened more work stations and clearing booths within the border.

“In addition to that, we have created more traffic lanes to ensure that vehicles don’t clog the border and the major highway linking the border and Musina town.”

Original article appeared in Chronicle

https://www.chronicle.co.zw/trucks-pile-up-on-zimbabwe-side-of-beitbridge-border-as-south-africa-runs-out-of-parking-space/