Hillary Woelk of Kayhil Cargo comments on some of the service issues at Lesotho’s borders. BORDER OPENING TIMES: The Maseru Bridge and Maputsoe border are 24 hours. The rest are normally till 20:00 or 22:00. DELAYS, CLEARANCE TIMES: At Maseru there are delays largely due to management problems and a shortage of staff. A truck load can take up to six hours to clear on the SA side. On the Lesotho side at Maseru the main problem is with the computers. The system is inadequate, they don’t have enough manpower, and IT staff are not competent at head office. It can take up to six hours to clear a shipment. CHALLENGES: Commitment from both Sars and LRA to improve their systems and create a one- stop border. This has been discussed for years but never implemented, and there’s been no progress in addressing these challenges. Letters of complaint have gone unanswered. PROGRESS: The politicians are too busy looking after their own welfare. The civil servants at head office are not concerned and the people on the ground make little effort to provide a quality service. The result is that nobody cares and service can only be described as third world.
