INTERNATIONAL haulage truckers and Zimbabwe National Army
officers clashed at the Beitbridge Border Post on Tuesday after the former
blocked a section of the customs and excise yard over delays in clearance.
The soldiers deployed soon after the November uprising
against then President Robert Mugabe to oversee the smooth flow of traffic
confronted the truckers who stood their ground saying it was a matter between
them and customs officials only.
Zimra spokesperson, Taungana Ndoro confirmed the incident,
but said the dispute had been resolved.
“Things have normalised,” he said. A source at the border
post told Southern Eye that the truckers blocked the “Wafa Wafa” leading to
vehicle scanners, resulting in a standstill in the haulage truck section.
“They parked their vehicles in such a way that traffic on
that side would not move. They complained about delays in vehicle clearances
which take up to three days,” the source said.
“The soldiers tried to force the drivers to remove the
blockage, but truckers told them [soldiers] to ask customs officers to speed up
their work.”
A customs supervisor is reported to have addressed the
drivers later, saying that something was being done to accelerate clearance of
vehicles.
Problems of slow clearance of goods have been a thorn at
Beitbridge, even though Zimra commissioner Faith Mazani undertook to resolve
the issue when she took over the department this year.
The under-equipped Beitbridge border is struggling to
handle traffic from most of the landlocked countries in the Sadc region which
import goods via South Africa’s ports.
Newsday
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