Queues build up at border post as injiva flock home

LONG winding queues of travellers have started building up at Beitbridge Border Post on the South African side as travellers mostly injiva start flocking home ahead of the Christmas Holiday.

Scores of travellers, particularly those entering South Africa, have reportedly been enduring delays of up to 12 hours at the border between Friday and yesterday amid reports that South African immigration officials were caught unawares.

Cross-border traders yesterday told The Chronicle that the queues were unbearable resulting in some of them cancelling their trips to Musina.

"I am a cross-border driver who plies the Beitbridge-Musina route daily. Yesterday some of my clients were forced to cancel their trips because of congestion. South African bound buses cleared on the Zimbabwean side could be seen piling up at the other side of the border while long winding queues were the order of the day," said Mr Thambulo Muleya, a cross border driver.

South African Home Affairs spokesperson Mr Mayihlome Tshwete did not respond to questions sent to him yesterday.

Immigration authorities said they expected an increase in the volume of traffic starting this weekend as more Zimbabweans working in South Africa return home to join their families for Christmas.

The assistant regional immigration officer in charge of Beitbridge Border Post, Mr Notius Tarisai, said as part of their decongestion drive, they would increase manpower during the peak days.

"We have consolidated our festive period plan for all key players and as immigration we have enough staff to man all counters. This coming weekend we anticipate an increase in the number of travellers passing through the border and therefore as a precautionary measure we have dissolved and combined our shifts into two with each one having 28 officers and 12 security guards to man the gates and control queues," he said.

Mr Tarisai said they had enough officers to handle travellers during the festive period.

"We will categorise travellers and open more service points for visitors, motorists, buses and pedestrians as a way of trying to decongest the border so that people are cleared expeditiously to avoid delays. We have an inter-border committee in place with key stakeholders in Zimbabwe and South Africa so that we are able to harmonise our operations because the issue of congestion on either side has an impact on both sides of the border," he said.

Mr Tarisai said they had also suspended off and leave days for the immigration staff in the run up to the festive period.

Beitbridge is the busiest inland port of entry in sub-Saharan Africa, handling an average of  10 000 travellers daily with the figures increasing sharply during peak periods such as Christmas holiday.

Police have also intensified patrols at the border as criminals capitalise on the situation to swindle travellers of their money under the guise of assisting them.

Several unsuspecting travellers have in the past fallen prey to bogus clearing agents and individuals posing as officials and making them pay for free services.

Police spokesperson for Matabeleland South Inspector Philisani Ndebele said more officers have been deployed at Plumtree and Beitbridge border posts to ensure safety for travellers during the festive season.

"We prioritise the safety of travellers and therefore we have increased our visibility at our border posts in Plumtree and Beitbridge. We have intensified border patrols and the situation is under control," he said.