Swazi’s round-the-clock border post still on hold

MBABANE – Still “on the drawing board” – or as frustrated road freight operators say “a lot of talk but no action” – is the transformation of the Oshoek Border Post into a 24/7 facility for crossborder traffic to and from Gauteng. Most traffic from SA’s business and industrial centre uses Oshoek for transport into Swaziland, providing the country with most of its consumer goods and all of its petroleum products. On return trips, trucks carry to Gauteng much of Swaziland’s exported products, 60% of which is absorbed by SA. In April, Prime Minister Themba Dlamini said Oshoek would go 24/7, but admitted SA departments like customs and police would have to get on board. But nothing has happened in the interim, confounding SA road cargo hauliers who would prefer the ease of access to Swaziland that roundthe- clock border operations would provide.