THE movement of cross-border buses transporting Zimbabweans returning from South Africa will with effect from tomorrow be first cleared by the Zimbabwe Embassy in the neighbouring country.
The position was arrived at following an impasse at
Beitbridge Border Post between the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) and bus
operators.
Zimra has been refusing to clear Zimbabweans returning home
by buses arguing that they were not clearing cross-border buses yet.
The tax collector said the other problem was that some
buses were being used to transport commercial cargo instead of genuine
returnees.
In a bid to address the chaos at the border where
travellers have been spending a minimum of 11 hours to enter the country,
Zimra, Immigration, and Zimbabwe Embassy officials in the neighbouring country
held a virtual meeting to resolve operational issues.
Both the local head of immigration, Mr Nqobile Ncube and
head Zimra, Mr Innocent Chikuni could not be reached for comment.
However, Zimbabwe’s Consul General to Johannesburg, Mrs
Melody Chaurura confirmed the latest position.
“We have had challenges regarding the re-entry of
Zimbabweans into our country through Beitbridge due to a number of issues to do
with customs,” she said.
“We then held consultations (on Wednesday) with border
stakeholders to understand their challenges and to see how best we can make the
process seamless for both our nationals and border agencies.
“As a result, we then came up with the idea of reverting to
the lockdown operational procedures whereby the movement of buses would be
regulated by the Embassy”.
Mrs Chaurura said under the new system all buses
transporting Zimbabweans will have to be cleared by the Embassy regarding the
numbers to carry and which days to travel.
This, she said will address issues of planning and
predictability considering that the buses were arriving at the border in dozens
creating an operational challenge to manage Covid-19 related border protocols.
The Consul-General said they had started with the process
of notifying the cross border bus operators on the new regulations.
“The concerns from Zimra were that the buses were not
travelling in a planned manner and that they were clogging traffic, carrying
commercial cargo instead of the returnees as per the Government position.
“So under the new order the buses’ movement will be
regulated and they will be expected to only carry people rather than goods of
commercial nature,” said Mrs Chaurura.
Zimbabwe and South Africa closed their land borders in
March to contain the spread of the global pandemic.
Only commercial cargo, diplomats on government business and
bodies for burial and returning residents were allowed passage through the
borders. This saw nearly 11 000 Zimbabweans returning from Eswatini, Lesotho
and South Africa via Beitbridge Border Post while less than 200 South Africans
returned home.
Before the lockdown, Zimbabwe and South Africa’s border
processes at least 15 000 travellers, 3000 light vehicles, 200 buses, and 1 300
commercial trucks daily.
South Africa reopened 18 of 35 land borders on 1 October
while Zimbabwe will have a phased opening from 1 December.
Private motorists and pedestrians will start first and
public transporters will be last in the first quarter of 2021. Chronicle
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