Truck drivers forced to wait at border crossings for days without food, water and ablution facilities while authorities battle to issue coronavirus test results are pleading with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to do something about their situation.
Their desperation is nothing new.
At various crossings throughout the SADC region long-distance drivers have been easy prey for criminals as they wait for border officials to rubber-stamp their way through using outdated customs methods.
In many instances the customs personnel are the ones doing the preying, demanding back-handers to fast-track rigs through congested crossings.
More often than not, whether it’s around Chirundu on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border or at Kasumbalesa into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, drivers sit in truck queues like sitting ducks, forced to sleep in their cabins and hoping that armed hoodlums will spare them, their cargo, and the cash required for duties along the way.
Now, with SADC countries loosening lockdown regulations to stimulate strangled economies, yet forced to tighten Covid-19 testing procedures, drivers are increasingly speaking out against the inhumanity of what’s expected of them.
In video footage seen by Freight News, rows of trucks line a road, presumably in Botswana south of its Kazungula border with Zambia.
Using his phone to record the scene around him, a driver said: “This is what is happening in Botswana. We have been here for five days with no results (for Covid-19 tests).
“We are about 100 trucks.
“There’s a single toilet. No water. No food. This is so inhuman. We are appealing to the SADC to do something about it.”
He said they had been told by authorities that the tests would be released in 72 hours.
With trucks laden with copper, essential goods, stock feed, molasses and even honey, the driver pleaded for something to be done about allowing drivers to complete their journeys.
“This is mental torture. We are hoping that this message will reach the relevant authorities and action will be taken.”
Since seeing the footage, Freight News has also seen a circular by Dr Kereng Masupu, coordinator of Botswana’s Presidential Covid-19 task team.
The circular details measures taken by the task team to speed up testing and results.
“The public and other stakeholders are assured that the Task Force on Covid-19 is both receptive to and continuously seeking ways to resolve any challenges that affect them because a seamless partnership is key to containing the pandemic,” the circular stated.
At the time of posting this report it was unclear what the situation was in Botswana and whether Masupu’s circular had resulted in any change on the ground.
