An old issue on the Zimbabwean side of the Beitbridge border seems to have reared its head again – over-inspection of trucks by authorities, including empty home-hauls which should really have a green lane all the way through on the southbound journey.
This morning, on the WhatsApp group of the Transit Assistance Bureau (Transist), a transporter asked: “Can anyone advise me if there was a queue on the Zim side for empty trucks coming back last night?”
To which another operator said that they had faced the same issue.
“All trucks were being inspected (and it) caused a bit of a backlog on the SA side.”
A clearing agent in Musina said that apparently there had been network issues and that a truck had been stuck on the bridge across the Limpopo River.
The slight hold-up though is nothing compared to what the crossing used to experience before new customs facilities north of the border came online earlier this month.
Teething issues, especially around tolling challenges, added to the havoc but were recently sorted out when border agencies and interested stakeholders on both sides of the border implemented a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs).
One of these involved Zim’s Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) and presumably ironed out snags around excessive inspection measures.
Although it can’t be confirmed, VID yesterday appeared to have reverted to its old bag of tricks.
Nevertheless, throughput at Beitbridge remains a breeze compared to what it used to be, especially with regard to night-time processing which, until just over a week ago, was a major contributor to congestion building from dusk to dawn.
This morning it was reported on Transist that last night’s six-to-six figures were the following: 348 loaded and 12 empty trucks in the northbound lane. Southbound the respective figures were 271 loaded and 222 empty.
Louise Wiggett, managing director of Global Trade Solution, told Transist that the figures were much improved.
To have such efficient processing at what used to be a heavily congested crossing, “means the world to traders and transporters”, she said.
All things said and done, especially with regard to the 222 empties processed last night, SOPs at Beitbridge are running smoothly it seems.
