Bribery at border posts is a catch-22 situation for transport operators – if they pay, they get their trucks and goods cleared more quickly. However, the next time they reach the same border post, the price of a bribe will have doubled. If they don’t pay, they can claim the moral high ground, but they are then guaranteed an indefinite delay at a border post or a road block and may lose a client if they don’t make a tight delivery deadline. The problem A small transport operator told FTW it was the only way he could retain a competitive edge in an increasingly ratesdriven business. “If my drivers don’t pay, there is inevitably some reason why the truck or goods cannot be cleared and then the trucks often have to spend a night or two at a border post where the drivers and goods are vulnerable to other criminal elements such as robbery and even assault,” he said, adding that the price of a bribe was then often a much lower short-term “cost”. Another person mentioned his brother, a single operator running a 35-ton truck from South Africa to Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. “As a matter of course, he carries a pile of R20 notes as bribes to pay uniformed people who appear out of nowhere and claim the truck is unroadworthy and is subject to fines running into thousands of rands. He simply pays R40 or R60 to ensure he can continue his journey.” A round trip to Malawi from South Africa could cost an average of R1 000 to R2 000 in bribes (over and above the border gate bribes). A transporter said the wartorn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was the worst offender as all the authorities seemed to be involved in some way. “The selling of receipts in the DRC is also now a lucrative business where drivers can buy a receipt for ‘something’ and offer it as proof to transport company owners.” The operator told FTW that this was difficult to pin down as rules within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries changed so often, with little or no notice, that the receipts could well be legitimate. She said that driver involvement was a major problem as they often claimed for bribes that were not applicable. “We ask them to obtain receipts so we have recourse to fight the issue with the local authorities but often these are refused or they buy false receipts.” Cross-border transporters often have to push up their rates to compensate for delays because of unpaid bribes or to cover the expense of having to pay a bribe but meet the delivery schedule, said another operator. The solution? Cutting off the head of the snake and simply not paying is the answer, say some. But this would only work if everyone worked collectively to do so, otherwise just like the mythical Greek hydra, the snake will continue to grow more heads. “Social problems such as high unemployment have certainly contributed to this as it is considered less risky and certainly easier than a robbery,” noted a clearing agent. One operator said: “The issue is, who is involved? Is it just one department or the whole system? Then, we also need to determine which border posts have the worst offenders and start to crack down on them first – either through sting operations or legal recourse.” He believes that the problem is that the industry usually talks around the issue but no-one really talks specifics as they are worried about reprisals. A transporter mentioned that Botswana was one of the few SADC countries where operators could lodge complaints around bribery and corruption practices and the authorities actually took action. She noted that the mining and other global companies – that transport large cargo volumes through Africa – have corporate policies in place to deal with bribery and corruption and will often assist their logistics suppliers to deal with issues that arise. “Having a good, honest and open relationship with your client does make a difference.” She added that the flip side of this was that despite the policies, often the client’s own employees were involved and would demand bribes for trucks to be loaded faster or even let through the gates. Another operator noted that their solution was simply not to let drivers travel with large amounts of cash but rather with value items such as cool drinks, cigarettes or canned goods. “It is a more affordable and fairer option.”
