GARETH COSTA SOME MAY view it as the calm before the storm, but at the very least the finally completed 12km stretch of road leading up to Beitbridge, our northern-most border post, will provide a chance to catch one’s breath before the big push north. “The road has, to all intents and purposes, been completed. The civil engineering is done, the drainage is complete, Armco barriers are in place, the line-painting has been finished and ‘cats' eyes’ have been implanted by the hundreds. There are also two lengthy three lane stretches allowing safe overtaking,” says Brian Kalshoven, MD of Messinabased Beitbridge Border Clearing Agency who has closely watched the road’s progress for the past 18 months. “Now it has to be paid for and kept in good condition. Work continues apace on the weighbridge/ vehicle check station a kilometre from the border. There are rumours of a road levy similar to that charged in Zambia and Zimbabwe being charged on commercial traffic. Monitoring the mass of axle loads and adjusting loads according to the requirements of legislation will assist in preventing damage to the road itself,” says Kalshoven. “There is no doubt that now that the inconvenience and delays caused by the road works are over, the route will resume its place as the first choice for freight moving both into and out of Africa. Commissioning of the weighbridge will also mean increased calls on our 3 ton forklift stationed at Beitbridge, for load adjustments,” says Kalshoven. Anticipating a surge in the utilisation of this, the most direct route to the north, sales teams from Linked Logistics, of which BBCA is a part, have been furiously marketing this major route to and from central Africa over the past few months. With offices in Johannesburg, both sides of Beitbridge and the major cities of Zimbabwe, Linked Logistics believes it is well placed to look after customers’ needs in Customs clearing, consolidation of loads, and monitoring and status reporting of freight movements.
