More than a week after the South African Revenue Service (Sars) officially announced that it was prepared to extend 24-hour operations at designated supply-chain borders with Botswana, multi-departmental involvement continues to drag on further developments.
This comes as trucks continue to queue at the Kopfontein Border Post on the R49, an express transit for goods going to Gaborone, which is now also used as an in-transit cargo crossing for road freight from South Africa to the Copperbelt.
Sunday, March 23, marked three weeks since heavy rain caused the Limpopo River to flood, disrupting customs facilities and the flow of traffic at the Groblersbrug Border Post further north, the main transit for overborder hauliers.
Since then, a crush of cargo has been bottlenecking outside Kopfontein where authorities have battled to cope with the increase in volume.
Last week, Border Management Authority (BMA) commissioner Dr Michael Masiapato said that more officials had been deployed to help clear the queue, but on Monday morning, March 23, bottlenecking continued.
Mike Fitzmaurice, regional vice president of the African Union’s Organisation for Transport and Logistics, confirmed that transport delays continued to hold back trade at Kopfontein, amounting to losses of about $20 or roughly R365 per hour.
The 300 trucks (+/-) that generally pass through Groblersbrug can also drive through Zimbabwe, but at the moment, punishing costs at the Beitbridge border, time-consuming stops at smuggled goods checkpoints in areas such as Masvingo, and poor road conditions are discouraging operators from transiting through Zim.
Fitzmaurice said although the queue at Kopfontein had shrunk from some 20kms at one stage to about seven kilometres, it still took a day or more to proceed through the congested crossing, whether your destination was Gaborone or the copper mines in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
And yet, although Sars has indicated that it’s ready to ramp up its personnel at South Africa’s borders into Botswana, the tax and customs authority couldn’t confirm when 24-hour operations might proceed.
Sars said it was waiting for a BMA update on the matter because extended operating hours must be approved by the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber.
As to which one of the borders will see the implementation of 24-hour operations, Sars reiterated that it was waiting for the BMA which, in turn, was waiting for Schreiber’s office.
Regarding an industry recommendation that contingency measures be deployed at Groblersbrug because the Limpopo’s level has receded below the actual bridge, Sars said: “Some infrastructure facilities, such as ablution facilities and the replacement of damaged Eskom cables in residential areas, have not been restored.”
“The infrastructure team is working hard to repair and replace, with the goal of opening the port in the middle of the week.”
Last week, various sources, including the Transit Assistance Bureau, reported that Eskom was making headway in replacing damaged power lines and supporting infrastructure at the border north of Lephalale (Ellisras).
Jan Havenga, emeritus professor of logistics at Stellenbosch University, has pointed out that South Africa’s borders with Botswana are part of the oldest customs union on earth (the Southern African Customs Union).
“It is unforgivable and completely unthinkable that we still have this problem. There are many possible solutions that don't relate to the physical border. Political, procedural, infrastructure, many. It is time that we stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
A road freight source who spoke to Freight News on condition of anonymity said: “If the BMA was really serious in assisting us, they would’ve done so by now.
“They’re waiting to see if Groblersbrug reopens by Wednesday or so, because then the problem goes away – until the next floods.
“The problem we repeatedly see at various borders and the delays it causes has to do with shift changes and staffing shortages when it matters most. Personnel and performance are the problem, and political will.
“Poor decision-making by various government departments is slowly dismantling the economy.”
Last week, Fitzmaurice said various fleet companies with costly assets financed by banks were finding themselves on the ropes because they were not able to honour contracts with their clients.
“Our government doesn’t seem to realise that every hour a truck stands at a border, money is lost.”
As for the human toll on drivers cooped up in their cabins, waiting for their turn to pass through transits like Kopfontein, he said nothing had been done to make things more comfortable in the queue on the R49.
