South African truck drivers may be under threat as frustrated foreign drivers sitting at congested Zambian border posts say South Africa is refusing to step up and help with the situation. Mayhem at the Kasumbalesa border post in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where trucks have been queuing
for kilometres to get into the country from Zambia, has led to massive chain reactions along the corridor, affecting all Zambia’s border posts. According to Mike Fitzmaurice of Fesarta some headway was made toward the end of last week as about 200 trucks were being cleared per day reducing a 72km-long queue, but on Saturday Kasumbalesa was closed for the entire day for a
visit by DRC President Felix Tshisekedi. “This did not help the situation and it only added to the chaos. The truck queue at present is just outside Chingola,” said Fitzmaurice. “Most of the border posts into Zambia are now congested.” What made matters worse was that the President never arrived for the visit to inspect the border post.
At Chirundu the truck queue has since moved into the game park some 10km from the border post itself, while long queues were reported at both Kazungula and Victoria Falls. More than 700 trucks, mostly fuel tankers, were standing at the Nakonde/ Tanduma border posts between Zambia and Tanzania. “There is definite animosity
brewing with drivers,” said Fitzmaurice. “They are understandably frustrated as many of them have been sitting at these border posts for weeks now with no access to toilet facilities or clean running water.” Most of the drivers also had limited funds, he said. One transporter, who preferred not to be named, told FTW that with the queue at Chirundu now extending into the game park, his truck drivers were now contending with wild animals as well. “This is not just about us as owners being bled dry as our trucks stand, but the hundreds of drivers sitting at these border posts being treated like animals. I don’t know what to tell my staff any more,” he said. “It is shocking to say the least.” This comes despite promises by Zambian and Congo authorities last week to speed up border processes and clear the backlog last week. The DRC President even committed to visiting the border post to assess the situation himself. “They closed a congested border post for the entire Saturday for a visit that did not happen,” said Fitzmaurice. “There is
complete bedlam. When you have chaos and congestion like this, the opportunity for corruption is rife.” To add further to the growing number of challenges, a message has started circulating on social media calling on foreign drivers to attack South African drivers. Fitzmaurice said while the message itself, which calls for South African drivers to be targeted on cross-border routes, had not been verified and could very well be fake, it did point to the fragility of the crossborder transport sector at present. “There is already animosity between South African and foreign drivers and situations like these only add further oil to the fire.” He said Fesarta continued to lobby for South African drivers to be employed for local transport and foreign drivers for all cross-border loads. “These border posts are all under severe pressure and you have drivers sitting for weeks on end waiting and getting more frustrated. The situation is really explosive.” One driver FTW managed to speak to said there were ongoing meetings taking place between officials and drivers. Stuck at the Chirundu border post, he said the truck park was completely full and the customs yard was overflowing. According to the driver, thieving was rife as drivers were sitting targets, especially at night. “They are also stealing the goods from the trucks and we don’t have security,” he said. “The officials also say we must park our trucks and leave them. This is not good.” Another driver, who has been waiting at the Nakonde/ Tanduma border post, said there it was mostly fuel tankers. Asked where the drivers were getting food, he said most were cooking on fires next to the trucks at the side of the road.
There is definite animosity brewing with drivers. – Mike Fitzmaurice
