A cargo processing dry run currently under way at South Africa’s Komatipoort border on the N4 into Mozambique could eventually benefit cross-border ore carriers heading to the Port of Maputo, but transporters feel “eventually” could take a long time.
The dry run involves ore carriers, general cargo trucks and and tankers leaving the highway to the runway area at Kilometer Seven (KM7), a waiting area for road freight heading east.
According to one-stop border post (OSBP) consultant, Mike Fitzmaurice of the Transit Assistance Bureau, “Runway could work as an OSBP if everything is done in one place.”
But at the moment the dry run only involves immigration control for ore truck drivers, who then still have to rejoin the queue at the Lebombo Border Post control zone.
Once there, they have to go through ‘marked-for-arrival’ procedures.
“In other words what they’re doing at the moment is not an OSBP testing phase as some are saying. If they want to use Runway as an OSBP, they have to do away with marked-for-arrival checking and consolidate all border procedures at one stop.”
It is understood that there are plans afoot for border authorities on both sides of the border to eventually do this through geographical alignment and automation, potentially harmonising systems at a crossing that is notoriously prone to become congested.
However, to coalesce officialdom from South Africa and Mozambique seems to be a different matter.
The dry run that was implemented yesterday and is expected to run until Friday, February 20, lacked a full staff complement of immigration officials.
An anonymous source from the road freight industry told Freight News that the idea was to have two immigration officers from each side of the border stamping passports and clearing documents, but only one official from Mozambique came through.
It is understood that only one stamp pad was available.
Cobus Botha, who heads up the local Nkomazi East agricultural organisation, and has been advocating against the impact that queueing ore trucks on the N4 has on the farm community, confirmed that yesterday’s dry run at Runway resulted in a highway back-up.
“But it’s nothing like we’ve seen. We have to be reasonable and agree that something is changing at the border.”
He said yesterday’s news of under-staffing, which quickly circulated through various local business groups, was unfortunate but pointed to teething issues to work more efficiency into the border system.
Such efficiencies, Fitzmaurice said, involved all stakeholders working together to establish OSBP seamlessness between Lebombo and the Ressano Garcia Border Post in Mozambique.
Border Management Authority commissioner, Dr Michael Masiapato, has asked for patience from transporters.
He said what was currently happening at KM7 boded very well for the Maputo Corridor transit, where queueing trucks had in the recent past led to public violence as taxi associations got involved to marshal the queue because of failing law enforcement.
“Things are definitely changing for this border.
“All we ask is that industry bears with us for now as we try and identify where things can be improved.”
For Masiapato, eventually streamlining cargo processing at the N4 border is closer than the road freight industry might think.
