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The Herald
Herald reporters
Zimbabwe has only opened international airports to passenger traffic, while land borders remain closed to human trafficking for the time being.
Only commercial traffic, diplomats and returning residents can cross land borders, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Cultural Heritage, Kazembe Kazembe, confirmed yesterday, and the public health regulations established at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic are still in effect. .
With the opening of most sectors, including schools and the economy in general, the Government is expected to order the reopening of land borders at some point once all necessary measures have been taken.
“We have not yet opened the border at Beitbridge. The border is open to commercial cargo, diplomats, and returning residents. In fact, the regulations stipulated by the current closure precautions remain in effect. However, the issue will be discussed in due course, ”Minister Kazembe said.
Industry Minister for the Environment, Climate Change, Tourism and Hospitality, Mangaliso Ndlovu, also said that only airports were open for tourist arrivals.
“As far as we are concerned, we have only opened airports for tourists and the rest of the borders remain open only to commercial traffic, not to human trafficking in general,” he said.
Between March and September, a total of 9,331 Zimbabweans returned by road through the Beitbridge border post and were subjected to tests and quarantined at provincial centers across the country.
Before the start of the shutdown in March, half a million people crossed the Limpopo in Beitbridge a year. There has been a lot of excitement among people in the Sadc countries lately about the reopening of the Beitbridge border post, after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that South Africa would reopen some borders for business travel and tourism today, but under strict conditions and controls. of health.
Authorities at the Chirundu and Kariba border posts have been analyzing their systems so that these posts can be opened fairly quickly once clearance is given for passenger traffic through the land border posts.
The regional immigration official, Mr. Joshua Chibundu, said they are awaiting instructions from their headquarters for any developments to take place.
“We are operating as we always have. If there is any change regarding the opening of the borders, it will have to come from our headquarters and so far there has been no communication, ”he said.
Authorities from Zambia and Zimbabwe recently met to assess the impact of Covid-19 and make recommendations on the systems that need to be put in place on both sides of the border before the borders can be opened to passenger traffic.
The cross-border training and coordination workshop was facilitated by the International Organization for Migration at the single border post of Chirundu.
He analyzed the challenges faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic and tried to find ways to strengthen cross-border coordination of stakeholders such as immigration, customs, local government, social welfare, and ministries of health.
Even when land border crossings are reopened to human trafficking, border crossings will be more complicated and much more expensive. The chair of the South African National Border Management Coordinating Committee, Elvis Manyaka, said in a circular to all managers of ports of entry that travelers entering South Africa will need to submit a negative Covid-19 test result that does not have more than 72 hours from departure time.
“When a traveler has not tested for Covid-19 prior to departure, they will be required to remain in mandatory quarantine at their own cost for a period of 10 days. All travelers will be subject to controls by port health officials upon arrival and departure, and those detected with symptoms must remain in quarantine until a new Covid-19 test is carried out at their own cost ”, He said.
Travelers will need to complete a Traveler Health Questionnaire prior to arrival or upon arrival at any port of entry.
Zimbabwe has already established similar testing requirements for those who use airports.
Before each land border post is reopened to passenger traffic, identical measures must be agreed with the authorities on both sides, along with lists of approved test facilities. International travelers will typically require two tests, one before leaving and one before returning, and such tests are expensive at the approved private facilities that travelers will be required to use.
At the same time, authorities at adjoining border posts will need to agree on measures to protect personnel on both sides and on how the increasingly common one-stop-shop facilities will operate.
