News / National
Seven hours to cross into Zim
22 Dec 2010 at 13:46hrs | Views
There is severe congestion at the Beit Bridge border post to Zimbabwe, with many regular travellers saying the service has not improved under the power-sharing government and is worse than it has been at other holiday times.
The volume of traffic has increased since companies in Zimbabwe and South Africa closed on Friday for the year.
Travellers on both sides of the border were complaining on Monday, saying it took up to half a day for them to get through both sides.
The former Zanu-PF government put in place time-consuming procedures to clear people and vehicles and failed to introduce computer systems to speed up imports and exports through the border. The unity government has done little to speed up the antiquated processes it inherited.
Christmas and New Year mark the main annual trek home for tens of thousands of Zimbabweans working in South Africa.
Officials on the Zimbabwean side said from 15 000-20 000 people a day were entering Zimbabwe, as opposed to about 2500 a day outside holiday seasons.
According to Immigration Department figures, 55 190 people entered Zimbabwe between Friday and Sunday night, while 21 738 left the country.
The Zimbabwean Revenue Authority and the Immigration Department have deployed staff members from other stations at Beit Bridge but the numbers remain inadequate.
The minister of transport, communication and infrastructure development, Nicholas Goche, a Zanu-PF member, and finance minister Tendai Biti, of the MDC, visited the border post on Monday.
The assistant regional immigration officer in charge, Charles Gwede, said: "We have enlisted the services of the police to assist with controlling queues and preventing touts from entering the border post."
The Zimbabwean side of the Beit Bridge border post is filthy and the toilet facilities are largely unusable.
Biti promised improvements, saying: "People are taking between six and seven hours to cross from Zimbabwe to South Africa.
"We are going to do everything within our power to improve the situation. This is affecting the speedy movement of cargo and private traffic."
The South African side is often understaffed. Many Zimbabweans say they bribe officials to speed entry. -
The volume of traffic has increased since companies in Zimbabwe and South Africa closed on Friday for the year.
Travellers on both sides of the border were complaining on Monday, saying it took up to half a day for them to get through both sides.
The former Zanu-PF government put in place time-consuming procedures to clear people and vehicles and failed to introduce computer systems to speed up imports and exports through the border. The unity government has done little to speed up the antiquated processes it inherited.
Christmas and New Year mark the main annual trek home for tens of thousands of Zimbabweans working in South Africa.
Officials on the Zimbabwean side said from 15 000-20 000 people a day were entering Zimbabwe, as opposed to about 2500 a day outside holiday seasons.
According to Immigration Department figures, 55 190 people entered Zimbabwe between Friday and Sunday night, while 21 738 left the country.
The Zimbabwean Revenue Authority and the Immigration Department have deployed staff members from other stations at Beit Bridge but the numbers remain inadequate.
The minister of transport, communication and infrastructure development, Nicholas Goche, a Zanu-PF member, and finance minister Tendai Biti, of the MDC, visited the border post on Monday.
The assistant regional immigration officer in charge, Charles Gwede, said: "We have enlisted the services of the police to assist with controlling queues and preventing touts from entering the border post."
The Zimbabwean side of the Beit Bridge border post is filthy and the toilet facilities are largely unusable.
Biti promised improvements, saying: "People are taking between six and seven hours to cross from Zimbabwe to South Africa.
"We are going to do everything within our power to improve the situation. This is affecting the speedy movement of cargo and private traffic."
The South African side is often understaffed. Many Zimbabweans say they bribe officials to speed entry. -
Source - The Mercury
