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The Herald
Thupeyo muleya Beitbridge Bureau
South Africa is not closing its land borders under the new Covid-19 blockade level 3, but will deploy more personnel to improve the flow of human and vehicular traffic in the first two weeks of January, the SA Minister of Internal Affairs said yesterday, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi.
Southbound traffic is piling up in Beitbridge, where the curfew on the South African side now begins at 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. The curfew continues until 6 a.m. Only commercial trucks are allowed during curfew hours.
The additional staff is expected to minimize congestion and ensure tight and secure screening of all travelers.
Dr. Motsoaledi said that a total of 160 immigration officers, 259 port health workers, 278 community service personnel, and 73 military health workers were being deployed to Beitbridge to handle traffic with Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini and Botswana.
Speaking during a press conference yesterday, he said the Health Department, in addition to extending existing Covid-19 certificates for truck drivers at borders, was tying in more private labs to serve those who would or would not need additional testing. They had Covid- 19 clearance certificates on arrival.
“We are going to implement the plans approved by the National Joint Operations to ensure we clear the traffic quickly.
“However, the success of these plans will depend on everyone’s cooperation,” said the minister.
The delays that rocked the border in the lead up to Christmas Day were largely related to the increased volume of commercial cargo, as other borders were still closed.
South African authorities had to check on errant commercial truck drivers who were no longer using the truck shops, where they are supposed to park vehicles until customs documents are finalized.
The minister said that according to agreed protocols, trucks are only expected to join the queue to exit or enter the borders, when all the paperwork has been completed.
“An additional 60 immigration law enforcement officers will be deployed to support the National Defense Forces, in identified high-risk areas along the border line where people tend to cross into South Africa illegally.
“Immigration officers and soldiers are not there to prevent people from entering South Africa. They are there to insist that anyone wishing to visit South Africa must use the official entry gates and present all necessary documentation. Otherwise, they will not be allowed in, ”he said.
Dr. Motsoaledi said authorities were conducting roadblocks and vehicle checkpoints within the border law enforcement area. These will be very active in Limpopo, Free State, Mpumalanga and Kwazulu Natal.
The Cross Border Highway Transportation Agency will also deploy inspectors to Beitbridge, Lebombo, Maseru Bridge and Ficksburg from January 2-14.
“Although we have had congestion at the Beitbridge border post in recent days, you will find that only 27 percent of the people who used that border in December of last year did so in December of this year.
“In December 2019, there were 368,895 travelers who crossed Beitbridge in contrast to 103,224 who crossed on December 27 of this year,” said Dr. Motsoaledi.
He said a total of 21,800 trucks passed through the Beitbridge Border Post this month compared to 19,800 that were handled last year in December.
The minister said that the 2,000 additional commercial trucks that were processed in Beitbridge are mainly those that used to transit through Botswana during the holiday season.
