Speedy border clearance is possible – just look East

Cross-border chaos is

“endemic” to the Southern

African Development

Community (SADC) region

and there is scepticism that the

proposed new one stop border

post at the Beitbridge border –

announced by president Jacob

Zuma last week – will make

any difference.

Cross-border operators who

spoke to FTW on condition of

anonymity said they couldn’t

see the Zimbabwe Revenue

Authority

(Zimra)

relinquishing

control.

“South African

Revenue

Service (Sars)

has told me

they refuse to

work on the

Zimbabwean

side due to

bad working

conditions, but

this would be

a prerequisite

for a one

stop border post (OSBP),” he

pointed out.

Another transporter

pointed to the Chirundu

border post – which serves as

the flagship OSBP between

South Africa and Zambia – as

an example of how the onestop

concept does not work in

the SADC region.

The Federation of Eastern

and Southern African Road

Transport Associations

(Fesarta) said

in a report

on its website

that the

average GPS

tracking data

on crossing

times at the

Chirundu

OSBP – as

monitored

by Transport

Logistics

Consultants

(TLC) over

the past two

years – had

been consistently recorded at

around 18 plus hours.

The transporter agreed

with the figures, highlighting

that this was mainly due to

systems failures and other

inefficiencies inherent at many

of the SADC borders.

CEO of Fesarta, Mike

Fitzmaurice, pointed out that

in contrast to SADC “order

and efficiency prevailed” at

the Rusumo OSBP between

Tanzania and eastern

Rwanda in the East African

Community (EAC).

“At this Customs Control

Zone there is capacity for in

excess of 200 heavy goods

vehicles at any one time,” he

said, noting that all tankers

and dangerous goods vehicles

were separated from other

goods vehicles.

The Malaba border

post between Kenya and

Uganda which, according

to Fitzmaurice, is now

busier than Beitbridge with

traffic volumes of around

900 (westbound) and 600

(eastbound) per day clearing at

an average six hours.

A Zimbabwe-based

transporter sent FTW a

video last week of kilometres

of trucks queuing outside

the Beitbridge border post.

Fesarta pointed to an average

of 50 vehicle queues at the

Martins Drift border post

with Botswana and a “near

disaster” at the Ressano Garcia

border with Mozambique due

to road closure. The latter

has only now been resolved,

according to Fitzmaurice.

He said the border and

corridor management

authorities within SADC

had indicated that there

was “minimal intention” by

member states to adhere to

the principles of the SADC

Protocol on Transport. And

there is an “almost total

disregard for the effects of the

inefficiencies”, he added.

“A coordinated, analytical,

professional and pragmatic

appraisal of the entire SADC

transport and trade network

is required to provide the

basis for making the necessary

changes and to provide the

kind of results that are being

achieved in East Africa,”

commented Fitzmaurice.

INSERT & CAPTION

There appears to be

minimal intention

by member states

to adhere to the

principles of the

SADC Protocol on

Transport.

– Mike Fitzmaurice

CAPTION

Chaos prevails at the flagship Chirundu one stop border post.

Photo: Fesarta