THE Beitbridge border post is failing to cope with
increased traffic made up of mainly haulage trucks shuttling between Zimbabwe
and South Africa.
This has resulted in intermittent traffic jams and lengthy
vehicle queues that have dissected Beitbridge town into two.
On the South African side similar chaos caused by
bottlenecks at the border stretched for more than 10km with the tail of the
queue at the China Mall on the periphery of Musina town.
The traffic jams have been attributed largely to Covid-19-related
scrutiny in both countries and to the closure of alternative routes, leaving
Beitbridge as the sole artery feeding the entire region.
Zambia, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, parts of
Tanzania and northern parts of Mozambique use the Beitbridge border post for
their access to South African ports and industries.
Throughout the lockdown period that started in March,
Beitbridge has remained open to commercial traffic and returning residents
mostly Zimbabweans coming back.
This has opened a windfall for the country in terms of
revenue collection in tolls and relative transit and insurance fees.
A Zimbabwe National Roads Authority employee, who spoke on
condition of anonymity said traffic had picked up with all regional haulers
using Beitbridge that had been deserted for Botswana’s Kazungula route closed
when Botswana shut all its borders.
The increased haulage truck movement has, however, been met
with mixed reactions at the border town where residents fear increased
coronavirus infections considering haulage truck drivers’ nature of
interactions in their work.
Cases at Beitbridge shot from three to 15 when some
arrivals from South Africa were confirmed positive.
Shipping and Forwarding Agents Association of Zimbabwe
board member Catherine Hlangwayo said delays were mostly due to drivers waiting
to be screened for Covid-19.
“Information has to be recorded from drivers and some of
them are slow causing delays,” Hlangwayo said.
“We are working with the port health officials to see an
improved situation.” Some transport brokers said some trucks were taking up to three
days to reach customs and excise desks for scanning and other formalities.
“Trucks are taking long to get to customs and excise points
for both physical examinations either for imports or exports,” said transport
broker Cyprian Badze.
“If a trucker leaves the queue, getting back into the line
takes hours with the trucks moving bumper to bumber,” he said, referring to the
closeness of the vehicles. Standard
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