Beitbridge action plan proposes one-stop border post … but achieving it is a long way off

While several plans to address the numerous issues at the Beitbridge border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe are in the pipeline, talk that it will become a one-stop border post within the next year is premature and not realistic. So says Barney Curtis, executive director of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), who has drawn up a six-page document on the problems and the potential solutions for the Beitbridge border post. “This document was presented at a workshop in May 2009 where SADC endorsed and adopted the project.” Several workshops have since followed resulting in an action plan being drawn up and circulated to stakeholders. “Part of this action plan includes a one-stop border post, but there is still a long way to go before this becomes a reality.” Other documents that have been drawn up include a Memorandum of Understanding between South Africa and Zimbabwe as well as terms of reference for the task team taking the process of the border post forward. Probably the busiest border post in Africa in terms of commercial traffic, Beitbridge has been under severe pressure for several years. “It is definitely the busiest border post in the region,” says Curtis, who has spent much time investigating it. “The infrastructure and systems are particularly old and have for some time been struggling to cope with the increased traffic.” Add to that the congestion issues with the increase in traffic, and most people who use the border post on a regular basis say it is getting worse and is nothing more than a ticking time bomb. “We must remember though that the traffic at this border post has increased ten fold in the past twenty years and had nothing been done, it would take weeks to get through. The problem is that all the interventions and efforts have not gone far enough and we are just not keeping pace. Ultimately it is heading for disaster,” says Curtis. But with SADC finally on board much is expected in coming months, even if it is not the much-anticipated and wanted one-stop border post. With the Regional Trade Facilitation Programme having come to an end in October 2009, its replacement Trade Mark SA is set to kick off soon. “At the moment SADC is waiting for comment on the three documents, especially the action plan from the stakeholders. They have also requested some much-needed funding that will be used to implement some of the recommendations of the action plan. A one-stop border post is definitely a part of the future of Beitbridge, but it won’t happen soon. Too much work still needs to be done.”