Leonard Neill DELAYS AT the Komatipoort border post between South Africa and Mozambique, where transport vehicle drivers often waste many hours waiting in immigration queues, is high on the agenda of the Department of Home Affairs. “We are aware of the problem, and we intend changing it,” says director-general Barry Gilder A special freighter vehicle facility enables drivers to clear customs with little delay at the border. But the driver is then required to move across to the general public border post in order to clear immigration and there he has to join the regular queue. At peak times this results in lengthy delays to cargo deliveries. Transport operators have criticised the system and Alec Don, chief executive of the Maputo Port Development Company, has cited it as a major stumbling block in the promotion of Maputo for South African exports. “We are eager to introduce a one-stop facility on the South Africa-Mozambique border,” said Gilder when he attended the opening of the Nakop border post between South Africa and Namibia recently. Introduction of a one-stop facility at Komatipoort has been planned for the past four years, but co-operation between the two governments and improving facilities have been stumbling blocks. The ideal is to have both customs and immigration procedures cleared in both directions using a single entry permit. This is the system in place on the Trans Kalahari Highway which serves South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
