Home
FacebookTwitterSearchMenu
  • Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • News
  • Features
  • Knowledge Library
  • Columns
  • Customs
  • Jobs
  • Directory
  • FX Rates
  • Categories
    • Categories
    • Africa
    • Air Freight
    • BEE
    • Border Beat
    • COVID-19
    • Customs
    • Domestic
    • Duty Calls
    • Economy
    • Employment
    • Energy/Fuel
    • Freight & Trading Weekly
    • Imports and Exports
    • Infrastructure
    • International
    • Logistics
    • Other
    • People
    • Road/Rail Freight
    • Sea Freight
    • Skills & Training
    • Social Development
    • Technology
    • Trade/Investment
    • Webinars
  • Contact us
    • Contact us
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Send us news
    • Editorial Guidelines
Africa
Border Beat
People

Desperation mounting at Kasumbalesa as congestion continues

16 Feb 2023 - by Eugene Goddard
Trucks stuck in the muddy mess of alternative roads in and out of the Copperbelt, dirt tracks through the bush that were supposed to have been upgraded already. Source: Fesarta
0 Comments

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • E-mail
  • Print

Long-haul drivers working hinterland corridors into the Copperbelt seem to have no respite from what must surely be the worst cross-border transit in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – the Kasumbalesa Border Post into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

With hauliers stuck for days south of the notorious choke point, the SADC Truck Drivers’ Association has lobbied the Zambian government of Hakainde Hichilema to intervene militarily.

This after attempts by border authorities to separate the wheat from the chaff and allow drivers with precleared cargo documentation to leapfrog ahead of uncleared trucks, caused tempers to fray even further.

Amid the mêlée of haphazard government efforts to clear the months-long backlog, the queue of trucks stretches all the way past Chingola to Chambisi, almost 80 kilometres south of the congested border.

With drivers having no access to water and food, and forced into the bush for their ablutions, the Kasumbalesa snarl-up is on a knife edge.

“It’s all well and good that the SADC Truck Drivers’ Association wants the Zambian army to patrol the queue,” says Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations.

“The fact that they’ve also asked troops to hand out water to drivers also says something of the concern they have for the humanitarian care they’re trying to secure for the drivers.

“The thing is, no border is supposed to work like this, where drivers wait for up to 10 days before passing through a border, having no access to things like pit latrines while stuck in the queue.”

According to Fitzmaurice, the idea of allowing carriers of precleared docs to skip the queue has backfired badly, clearly proven by the fact that even compliant truckers are stuck in the queue.

Last week, he explained that preclearing cargo should be done before trucks are allowed to proceed on their journey – at source.

And while Zambian authorities are trying to untangle red tape issues south of the border, DRC border authorities simply refuse to allow any trucks through between 20:00 and 06:00.

The reason for this, despite there being a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in place that guarantees 24/7 operations at the border, was apparently to process documentation, Fitzmaurice explained.

In reality though, it makes a mockery of the MoU as it means that 24-hour traffic at the important Copperbelt Crossing stops for 10 hours every night.

Additional snags in sorting out the snarl-up include digital cargo seals that are often not available, despite 15 000 of these seals being in circulation.

Then there are the roads to alternative crossings at Mokambo and Sakania, rendered almost impassable by pouring rain.

“One gets the idea that the authorities don’t actually want the borders to work properly. The roads to Sakania and Mokambo were supposed to have been upgraded long ago, and still they are a muddy mess, with truck drivers getting stuck on a regular basis and relying on graders to come and help them.

“As for the seals: how is it that there are 15 000 in circulation but you run short of them. I’ve heard stories that seals can be bought on the black market.”

Fitzmaurice said if one considered how borders elsewhere in the region were managed by oversight bodies, as is the case in the well-run East Africa Community, it beggars belief to think that this is not the case with Kasumbalesa.

Sign up to our mailing list and get daily news headlines and weekly features directly to your inbox free.
Subscribe to receive print copies of Freight News Features to your door.

SA wine industry predicts exceptional grape harvest

Imports and Exports

Tariff constraints must be addressed with the likes of China.

12 May 2025
0 Comments

Emirates posts record profits

Air Freight
Logistics

Cargo division carries 2.3 million tonnes of goods around the world, up 7% from the previous year.

12 May 2025
0 Comments

Saaff reacts positively to ports, rail and road announcement

Logistics
Road/Rail Freight

The decision serves to “prevent, mitigate and resolve bottlenecks and additional breakdowns”.

09 May 2025
0 Comments

Durban port takes delivery of ship-to-shore cranes

Logistics

The port’s container terminal has invested approximately R1.5 billion in new equipment over the past 18 months.

09 May 2025
0 Comments

Steep dip in ConCor line volume after derailment

Logistics
Road/Rail Freight

An update states that as a result, rail operations in and out of Durban were affected.

09 May 2025
0 Comments

Rates storm looms as Suez eyes reuptake of volume

Logistics
Sea Freight

A sudden rediversion of global traffic through the Suez Canal would unleash surplus tonnage back into regular trade lanes.

09 May 2025
0 Comments

SA pork producers fear US leverage over citrus and tariffs

Imports and Exports

The primary responsibility remains the protection of the local industry from PRRS outbreaks.

09 May 2025
0 Comments

Ramaphosa outlines second phase of Operation Vulindlela

Logistics

The government would deepen the implementation of current reforms in energy and logistics.

09 May 2025
0 Comments

Carrier pulls out of crucial cargo flights for Red Sea destinations

Air Freight

Disruption is particularly acute in Sudan, where civil conflict has devastated infrastructure.

09 May 2025
0 Comments

Proposed cabotage rules in line with 91 other countries

Sea Freight

“No ship, other than a South African-owned ship, is permitted to engage in coastwise traffic for the conveyance of goods between ports in SA.”

09 May 2025
0 Comments

Fuel-crime curbing causes tanker build-up at Moz border

Border Beat
Imports and Exports
Logistics
Road/Rail Freight
08 May 2025
0 Comments

Agri processing and farm logistics under spotlight at Nampo

Imports and Exports
Logistics

More than 200 light aircraft, including helicopters and small twin-prop planes, are expected to fly in.

08 May 2025
0 Comments
  • More

FeatureClick to view

Namibia 23 May 2025

Border Beat

BMA steps in to help DG and FMCG cargo at Groblersbrug
21 May 2025
The N4 Maputo Corridor crossing – congestion, crime and potholes
12 May 2025
Fuel-crime curbing causes tanker build-up at Moz border
08 May 2025
More

Featured Jobs

New

Branch Manager (DBN)

Tiger Recruitment
Durban
22 May
New

General Manager

Switch Recruit
Centurion
22 May

Clearing Controller

Lee Botti & Associates
Durban
21 May
More Jobs
  • © Now Media
  • Privacy Policy
  • Freight News RSS
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Send us news
  • Contact us