ZIMBABWE is set to re-open more land borders after a team of senior Government officials was dispatched to assess the state of affairs at the port of entries/exit ahead of the gradual opening.
Two weeks ago, the country re-opened its side of the
Beitbridge Border Post but only to allow Zimbabwean citizens in South Africa to
return home. The border is also processing outbound Zimbabweans with valid
South African permanent residence and other permits such as work and student
permits who are also now allowed to cross into South Africa and back home.
Zimbabweans in South Africa popularly known as injiva are
also now allowed back home without any restrictions or special clearance in a
move that would see some locals who had been stuck in the neghbouring country
flocking back home.
However, it has emerged that the Government is now moving
to re-open other land borders to passenger traffic. The latest developments are
being implemented as per last week’s Cabinet directive that teams be sent to
all border posts to assess the state of readiness and recommend interventions
after taking input from all stakeholders on the ground.
Sunday News understands that the teams are visiting
Beitbridge, Forbes, Chirundu, Kariba, Victoria Falls, Kazungula, and Nyamapanda
border posts. The teams comprise senior civil servants from ministries of
Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Environment, Climate Change, Tourism
and Hospitality, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Higher and Tertiary
Education, Science and Technology Development, Defence and War Veterans, and
Local Government and Public Works.
Beitbridge’s team leader, Mr Stewart Nyakotyo who is the
Director Legal and Consul Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade said their mission involves taking submissions from border
actors and practical assessment of current operations.
“We have started engaging various stakeholders at
Beitbridge to assess the resources, operation proposals, state of manpower,
proposed time frames for re-opening, current operational challenges, and what
they need to get things moving. After which we are going to have a practical feel
on the ground of what they have and the shortcomings. We will then make
recommendations to the National Covid-19 Task Force which will then merge our
findings and recommendations with those from other teams. This will then be
taken to Cabinet to guide decision making,” said Mr Nyakotyo.
Speaking during the consultation, border stakeholders
proposed that the Government should consider a phased border opening before
allowing all and sundry through the borders. They said those travelling in
private vehicles should start in the first phase this year with public
transport being the last before the end of the first quarter of 2021. The
immigration officer-in-charge of Beitbridge Mr Nqobile Ncube said:
“It is only prudent to go with the phased route considering
the current state of affairs here where we are battling with the commercial
trucks with South Africa having re-opened their borders. You will note that in
2019, we cleared 5, 3 million people at this border with 14 000 passing through
daily and we could have more people if we open at full throttle considering
that people have not been moving for over six months.”
He said a successful re-opening of the land borders will
depend on the Government’s resource base to attend to all the safety measures
as proposed by the border stakeholders. The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra)
shift manager, Mr Jericho Rundogo said the current civil works to upgrade the
border post had left them with limited operation space and hence the need to
stagger the opening.
“Currently we are using private cars and bus lanes to clear
commercial cargo. Imagine what will happen if we open to full strength. So our
proposal is let’s have small/private cars which are easy to manage to come
through and we look at public transport after the festive season to avoid a
chaotic scenario,” he said.
Beitbridge District Medical Officer Dr Lenos Samhere said
they were still in discussions with four private laboratories who want to set
up shop in the border town to boost the testing of travellers leaving and
entering the country through Beitbridge.
He said they had since requested for more Polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) testing and automated screening machines to boost service
delivery and minimise delays at the port of entry. Sunday News
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