Thousands at Beitbridge border post

The volume of both human and vehicular traffic has increased at Beitbridge Border Post as Zimbabweans based in South Africa troop back home for the Independence and  Easter holidays.

Assistant regional immigration officer in charge of Beitbridge Mr Notius Tarisai said although the numbers were increasing in arrivals the situation was still manageable.

He said they cleared 7 500 travellers on Wednesday and were anticipating the number to increase last night.

"We expect the number of travellers to rise between Thursday and Friday," he said.

Mr Tarisai said they were working on two 12-hour shifts, a strategy which had proved effective during peak periods.

He said they had separated traffic into buses, private motorists, tourists, returning residents and those in transit.

"Those travelling in buses and returning residents will be cleared outside the immigration hall, while those in transit and other travellers will be cleared inside the main immigration hall," said Mr Tarisai.

"We have also dedicated another counter for local travellers and truck drivers outside the main immigration hall "Presently, all these are cleared at the same counters. We have also devised a tagging system of clearing passengers in buses in their order of arrival, a system which has proved to be effective in decongesting the border post."

Mr Tarisai said they had aligned their operations with their counterparts in South Africa in a bid to improve efficiency and the speed flow of traffic.

An average of 8 000 travellers accesses the border per day and the number increases to around 20 000 during peak periods.

At least 21 00 buses, 14 000 to 15 000 haulage trucks and 25 000 private cars pass through the border on monthly basis.