Beitbridge border movement situation improves

Traffic moving from Zimbabwe into South Africa at the Beitbridge Port of Entry has started to improve after days of long delays, following coordinated engagements between the two countries through the inter-border management committee.

Since New Year's Day, South Africa struggled to handle a surge of arrivals due to limited parking space for buses and light staffing. This led to vehicles and buses spilling over onto local roads in Beitbridge, with travellers reportedly spending between five and ten hours crossing the border.

By midday Monday, most light vehicles had been cleared for passage, while buses were being released in small batches. Mr. Joshua Chibundu, Regional Immigration Officer in charge of Southern Region, which covers Beitbridge, Masvingo, Chiredzi, and Sango, said:

"We have pushed a lot of traffic into South Africa following our engagements with our counterparts. They have limited space for parking buses, hence we resolved to send them in batches. As for light vehicles, we managed to process the majority overnight. We are going to continually engage and coordinate the flow of traffic together to minimise delays."

South Africa's Border Management Authority (BMA) Commissioner, Dr. Michael Masiapato, said additional resources had been deployed to manage the surge. He noted that immigration and Port Health protocols were being strictly enforced to prevent leakages and maintain biosecurity.

"We are working with other stakeholders to process travellers and are clearing at least 25,000 travellers daily," Dr. Masiapato said. "We are also monitoring the border line to minimise illegal migration on a full-time basis. At the same time, we are making sure we don't relax on biosecurity and port health issues. We expect traffic to increase mid-week and anticipate a second peak next Sunday."

Authorities continue to urge patience among travellers while joint measures remain in place to ensure smooth border operations.