Delays at border posts remain one of the biggest challenges facing road transporters, despite ongoing discussions at government level to improve the movement of cargo.
According to Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association, the delays experienced at the big border posts such as Beitbridge, Komatipoort and Chirundu all have major knock-on effects, especially in terms of cost. “Beitbridge, in particular, remains a massive problem,” Kelly said, indicating that claims of corruption exacerbated the situation.
“Rumours are rife that if truckers are not willing to pay, they are left standing for days before cargo is cleared.” He added that while some inroads had been made in recent years thanks to the introduction of e-clearing and modernisation at the various border posts, delays were often the result of other challenges.
“Smuggling is a good example. We have seen an increase in these activities across the borders, which in turn has resulted in more checks and searches at the various border posts. This all takes more time and so trucks are delayed en route to destinations and on return routes.”
Kelly said there was no doubt that the roll-out of electronic clearing implemented in several countries, including Botswana and Eswatini, had led to faster border crossings.
“There are, however, still many who arrive at border posts with stacks of paper to clear their cargo.”
He said as demand for goods continued to increase year-on-year, driven to a large extent by the region’s population growth, border post modernisation was still very gradual and moving trucks through borders was still not fast enough, including at the region’s one-stop border posts.Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, said in February that the decision to open a one-stop border at Beitbridge between South Africa and Zimbabwe was aimed at fast-tracking trade between the two countries.
Operators on the ground, however, say these one-stop facilities are not necessarily faster than any other border posts because both sides of the border still insist on being painstakingly thorough so that it does not become one process as the theory would suggest.Beitbridge remains Africa’s busiest land border with 500 trucks passing daily. Trucks often queue for kilometres at the border post, where it takes on average four days to receive a customs clearance.
According to Motsoaledi, all efforts will be made to harmonise the customs clearances at Beitbridge once it becomes a one-stop border post in 2024. Plans are in place for massive infrastructural changes to reduce queues, waiting times and overall congestion.“Addressing delays would be welcomed across the transport industry,” Kelly said.“It drives up costs unnecessarily and we welcome any move aimed at improving the situation for operators."
