Poor planning and a preference among cross-border transporters to divert trucks away from Beitbridge – as well as intermittent bottlenecking at the South Africa-Zimbabwe border - appear to be affecting the multimodal Kazungula crossing too.
A relatively smooth transit between Botswana and Zambia ever since the new bridge across the Zambezi came into operation, the one-stop border post (OSBP) has been battling with congestion north of the transit.
This morning a haulier with a driver heading north towards the Copperbelt through Zambia told the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport. Associations (Fesarta) that the queue was still long.
This after build-up was flagged a few days ago at the ordinarily free-flowing OSBP.
Fesarta chief executive Mike Fitzmaurice said he had it on good authority that the congestion currently being experienced at Kazungula was because of spill-over traffic avoiding Beitbridge.
He said the alternative north-south route through Zambia, Botswana and the Groblersbrug border into South Africa was battling to cope with the increased volume, especially on the Zambian side of Kazungula.
“Authorities and the designer of the border post on the Zambian side did not do their homework when it came to planning for growth in truck volumes,” Fitzmaurice said.
“Therefore, due to the current truck volumes now using the Groblersbrug-Kazungula route to avoid Beitbridge, the customs yard on the Zambian side cannot accommodate the current volumes.”
Fitzmaurice added that border officials were unable to separate transit cargo from imports into Zambia, adding to delays with regard to cargo clearance.
The usual traffic snarl-ups that ensue when one of the choke-prone borders in the sub-Saharan region clogs up is now adding to the frustration of transporters.
One of the truckers battling to squeeze through Kazungula told Fesarta he had slept at the border last night – not an uncommon practice for delayed drivers – and had woken up early this morning in hopes of entering Zambia before the waiting game started.
He said his documents were in order but, instead of receiving a green light to proceed with his journey, he was stuck behind two other trucks blocking the way.
It’s not the first time that the issue of precleared cargo documentation has been raised as a possible solution to frequent hold-ups at the region’s borders.
The north-most Copperbelt crossing of Kasumbalesa between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is frequently cited as a reason for long queues.
It also comes as no surprise that Kazungula, part of an integrated transit system across the wide region, is impacted by border inefficiencies at transits such as Beitbridge.
Earlier this year, Lesley Mpofu, executive director of the Trans-Kalahari Corridor Executive, warned trade facilitators that the Kazungula border may not be capable of handling a sudden spike in volume.
His comments were made in relation to regular snags at Beitbridge.
Considering what’s now happening at Kazungula, it’s unfortunate that Mpofu’s warnings were seemingly ignored.
He’s not alone though.
Fitzmaurice and countless others working towards assisting over-border hauliers have for years warned that transit systems and services, such as they are, are too fickle to absorb increased volume.
