Action plan addresses Beitbridge border issues

An action plan to address the
numerous issues and problems at
the Beitbridge border post between
South Africa and Zimbabwe has
finally been drawn up and is to be
circulated to stakeholders.
Beitbridge has been under severe
pressure for years. According
to Barney Curtis, executive
director of the Federation of
East and Southern African Road
Transport Associations, after much
investigation a six-page document
on the problems and the potential
solutions for Beit Bridge was drawn
up and circulated among all the
stakeholders to ensure it covered
all issues.
“We asked the Regional Trade
Facilitation Programme to facilitate
and fund a workshop earlier this
year where we brought on board as
many of the high-level stakeholders
from both countries as possible,”
says Curtis. “SADC was also asked
to participate and it then endorsed
and adopted this process.”
A contractor was appointed to do
a situational analysis of the border
post (infrastructure, procedures,
bridges etc) and a task team was
set up.
“We now have an action plan
which describes the way of taking
the border post forward, and
includes plans for a one-stop border
post. It is in the process of being
circulated to the stakeholders before
it is finalised and implemented.”