Smugglers build wooden bridge across Limpopo

Daring smugglers have built a wooden bridge across the Limpopo River in Beitbridge which they use to smuggle goods and border jumpers between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Located upstream of the New Limpopo Toll Bridge, the pole and log structure has been under construction for more than a week.

Curiously, the construction has been taking place before the eyes of the police, whose mounted unit has been watching on as the illegal construction went on.

Efforts to get comment from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) were fruitless as national spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi's mobile phone went unanswered.

The builders regularly stop to "process" goods into Zimbabwe from South Africa for fees charged according to sizes of consignments.

People are charged per individual at between R10 and R100.

The bridge sidesteps the official crossing point, taking advantage of the fact that the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe remains closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

All goods through the new bridge are not subject to official border formalities.

The log and pole structure's embankment is on the South African side of the Limpopo River.