Beitbridge border post heavy congested

BEITBRIDGE Border Post was yesterday heavily congested, as travellers, mostly Zimbabweans working in South Africa, who are commonly known as injiva, continued flocking into the country in the last minute festive rush.
According to immigration statistics, 37 055 people entered the country through the border post between Thursday and Sunday.
The assistant regional immigration manager in charge of Beitbridge   Border Post, Mr Charles Gwede, said they were handling more travellers on the arrivals section than those on the departure side.
"We have been very busy between Sunday and today (yesterday), as more people continue to arrive for the Christmas holiday. We are, however, yet to compile the latest statistics for travellers," he said.
When a Chronicle news crew visited the border post yesterday afternoon there were long winding queues of travellers waiting for both customs and immigration clearance.
South African registered vehicles, mostly Gauteng registered ones, were a common sight at the border yard.
Immigration guards with the help of police officers could also be seen controlling the queues on the entry side.
However, on the departure side, immigration officials were less busy compared to last week when scores of travellers, mostly holiday makers and early Christmas shoppers crossed the border into South Africa.
Mr Gwede said they were managing the queues despite an increased volume of traffic.
"We have scrambled our shifts to maximise on manpower per shift to effectively manage the queues and speed up the clearance process.
"We also got additional personnel from other less busy stations to beef up our staff and I am quite happy with the service that we are rendering to travellers. We have categorised our shifts in line with our strategies to decongest the border during the festive rush and so far we are coping," he said.
As a decongestion strategy, the Department of Immigration also created additional counters where travellers are utilising the cubicles situated outside the immigration hall.
Mr Gwede said they suspended leave and off-days for their staff to help speed up the clearance of travellers during the festive period.
Travellers and motorists, who spoke to Chronicle, said they encountered delays in the customs section due to vigorous searches by Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) officials.
Zimra officials also attributed delays in issuing out vehicle temporary import permits (TIPs) to constant break downs of its ascuada computer system.
"I was cleared very fast at the immigration counters, but I am now spending more hours in the customs queue for my TIP clearance at the Zimra section," said Mr Jacob Ndiweni, of Bulawayo, but based in Berea, Johannesburg.
Another traveller, Ms Nomalanga Dube said: "I arrived here at about  8am after having spent the previous  night on the South African side and my worry is that I am now subjected to further delays due to the slow customs clearance process, which we are told is worsened by a constant breakdown of their system."However, on the South African side, traffic queues were reportedly stretching for nearly 10km outside the border.
A 34-year-old Zimbabwean man died on Sunday in that side of the border while a local woman gave birth to twins the previous day while queuing for the immigration clearance.
This has largely been attributed to delays in the clearance of travellers.
Despite an assurance by South Africa's Border Control Operation Coordinating Committee ((BCOCC) that the situation was under control, travellers said they continued to spend several hours in queues.
BCOCC spokesman, Mr Patrick Moeng, said additional staff was deployed at the border from regional offices in Thohoyandou to quicken the clearance of travellers at the border during the festive period.
Immigration and customs officers have also opened more desks at the South African Revenue Services commercial hall.
On average the border handles about 8 000 travellers daily with the figures increasing to 20 000 during the peak period such as the festive season.