‘Make sure paperwork is in order’

Make sure your paperwork
is in order, and it is smooth
sailing crossing the borders
of Botswana, Lesotho, SA and
Swaziland, advises Sharp Freight, the
Swazi-owned clearing and forwarding
firm that carries goods to all the
mentioned countries.
“We are lucky to work in countries
where there are relatively fewer
problems at borders. Customs is
cooperative if all the forms are
filled out,” said Service Magagula,
a company director alongside Jabu
Vilakati and Shadreck Mnisi.
“But if something is left out,
this can delay the whole process,”
Magagula warned.
Garment companies and their
suppliers in Botswana, Lesotho and
Swaziland employ Sharp Freight
to move raw materials and finished
garments. SA roads are the conduits
between the landlocked countries.
“There is a lot of exchange between
the garment companies. It’s a major
business,” said Magagula.
To accommodate more goods, a
major renovation of the company’s
warehouse commenced in January.
Its location in a new section of the
Matsapha Industrial Estate outside the
Swaziland commercial hub Manzini
provides easy access to road links
and the country’s only airport, located
five minutes away.