Maputo border breaks all passenger records

ALAN PEAT OVER THE festive season there was a mammoth increase of 44% in passengers moving through the Lebombo/Ressano Garcia border post between SA and Mozambique, and a 10% increase in traffic volume on the N4, compared to December 2005. There was a record number of 465 600 passengers for December 2006 compared to 330 368 in December 2005 – with a border post which typically processes an average of around 8 000 passengers per day having to cope with an average of around 16 000 per day for December. The height of the rush, according to Brenda Horne, CEO of the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative (MCLI), was 20 473 on December 22 and 113 500 on the 23rd. “The previous highest record for a single day was around 56 000 passengers,” she added. The unexpected volume, in spite of the 24-hour opening on the 23rd, resulted in the N4 blocking up.