Modernisation slashes clearance time

Thanks to SA Revenue Services’ modernisation initiatives, a steel manufacturing company based in Pretoria with operations in Mozambique has seen eight trucks at the Lebombo border post cleared in just 20 minutes. In the past, the process took 6-8 hours. “Most of the system, policy and process changes have been designed to speed up the passage of goods through the port and enhance Sars’ risk management,” according to a Sars spokesman. And clearly it’s working. Customs has been rolling out its modernisation initiatives virtually every weekend since February this year – with sometimes up to four border posts going live in one weekend. The implementation of Release 3 – which has primarily been rolled out at BLNS (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland) border posts – will finally be coming to an end in the next few weeks. Effectively it’s an electronic release system that reduces the need for paper and authorising stamps at branches and introduces a new gate pass system for commercial vehicles.