SA, Swaziland to extend border hours

MBABANE – South Africa and Swaziland have agreed to extend operating hours for the key border post at Oshoek to midnight beginning April 1, 2012. After meeting with SA’s Minister of Home Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Swaziland’s home affairs minister, Chief Mgwagwa Gamedze, said the two-hour extension from the current 22:00. closing represented the first step toward 24/7 operations at the main border crossing between the countries. Oshoek primarily serves traffic to and from Gauteng, and is also utilised by SA road freight hauliers destined for Maputo who use the more direct route through Swaziland. However, the route is at present not available for round-the-clock access because of the nine-hour nightly closure at Oshoek. Swaziland’s Mhlume border post with Mozambique currently operates at a 24/7 capacity. The road freight industry is delighted by the development, particularly in light of a de facto lessening of Oshoek operating hours when Sars in an effort to reduce truck queues, recently cut off processing for freight arriving close to closing time.