Kazungula the answer to avoiding Beitbridge?

South African transporters

are eyeing the ambitious

US$259.3-million

Kazungula Bridge project

– located between Zambia

and Botswana – as a way

of avoiding the escalating

costs and delays at the

Beitbridge border post.

The managing director

of a transport and

logistics company told

FTW on condition of

anonymity that he was

headed for Zambia last

week to “check out things

at Kazungula” as he was

becoming increasingly

frustrated with the way

the Beitbridge border post

was being managed. “And

I’m not the only operator

who is looking to bypass

Zimbabwean transits,” he

said.

Currently there is no

alternative as transporters

have to use the Kazungula

ferry crossing which sees

the movement of only 30

trucks per day and the

Groblersbrug/Martins

Drift border post between

SA and Botswana is not

equipped to handle the

vast cargo volumes that are

carried through Beitbridge.

But he was hopeful that,

once completed, the

923-metre-long road and

rail bridge at Kazungula

would offer a viable

alternative.

The Kazungula crossing

is part of the North-

South Corridor, which

links the mineral-rich

regions of Zambia and the

Democratic Republic of

Congo through Botswana

and the port of Durban in

South Africa.

Permanent secretary

in the Botswana

Ministry of Transport

and Communications,

Kabelo Ebineng, said the

bridge was expected to be

completed in July 2019.

CAPTION

Part of the temporary bridge mounted to facilitate the

construction of the permanent Kazungula bridge.