One-stop border not the only priority for Beitbridge

Plans to make Beitbridge a One Stop Border Post (OSBP) is one of the items on an action plan drawn up more than a year ago to streamline southern Africa’s busiest border posts. According to Trade Mark Southern Africa the action plan, which cannot be implemented because South African and Zimbabwean authorities have not yet signed a Memorandum of Understanding, takes a macro view of the problems that need to be addressed at the border post. But in a progress report on Beitbridge it was found that even the delivery target, which was not dependent on the signing of the MOU, had been missed. This is despite a clearly documented work programme developed out of the action plan that sets out timelines, expected outputs and outcomes. “Beitbridge continues to suffer from heavy congestion and inefficiencies that not only adversely affect South Africa and Zimbabwe but all countries that rely on the Beitbridge border crossing including DR Congo, Zambia, Malawi and northern Mozambique,” reads a report on the border post. According to experts, the development of aligned and streamlined border clearance procedures, legal provisions and administrative arrangements, along with the development of an integrated computer system, are all part of the action plan.