Beitbridge alert: Border post gets 26 new Immigration officers

On Monday 26 new Immigration officers permanently joined Beitbridge border post where perennial staff shortages have been hindering the smooth flow of both human and vehicular traffic.

The head of immigration services at Beitbridge Border Post Notius Tarisai on Monday told Chronicle that the new officers have started their induction.

Tarisai said: "We've started inducting them (new officer) to the operations at the border post and this is a major boost for us as a Department.

"You'll note that Beitbridge Border Post, which is the busiest port of entry in Sadc, had been understaffed for a very long time and hence the need to beef up our staff.

"In previous years, we've been relying on relief staff during peak times, but this development will see us performing at full strength and to the expectations of the travelling public.

"In essence, the presence of the department of immigration will be felt at the border post" he said.

Tarisai said the department was now operating with 78 officers including support staff.

He said though traffic had increased at the border post as many Zimbabweans based in South Africa were trickling in for the Christmas and New Year holidays, the situation was still manageable.

The department is processing an average of 20,000 arrivals per day.

"At the moment we have a steady flow of traffic both on departures and arrivals. We have deployed our staff adequately and we are expecting the volume of traffic on the arrivals to rise between Tuesday and Wednesday evening," said Tarisai.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority last week beefed up its staff with 40 workers from less busy stations.

Zimra's Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs Florence Jambwa said the additional staff would assist in carrying out all processes relating to the movement of travellers and goods.

"Additional clearance points for processing all documentation required have also been established to augment what is already at the station.

"Zimra has deployed sufficient staff to deal with the expected influx of travellers and traffic.

"We've always deployed reasonable numbers to allow travellers to be served promptly. However, the flow of traffic is not predictable. Furthermore, we need to note that the deployment of additional resources always comes at a cost which may be a limiting factor.

"We've nevertheless put in place sufficient resources to deal with the expected influx of travellers", said Jambwa.

She also encouraged travellers to comply with instructions given (by border authorities) and avoid blocking traffic or causing disorder, adding that client compliance will allow Zimra officers to facilitate prompt clearances.