While the scandal over the Department of Health’s procurement of services by a company linked to South Africa’s health minister continues to make headlines, the country’s borders into Botswana and Namibia have been closing on a frequent basis lately because of Port Health staff shortages.
According to Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), it’s also not due to Covid-19 that operations are affected.
He said the border posts of Ramatlabama, Skilpadshek, Kopfontein, Groblersbrug (Botswana), as well as South Africa’s only two crossings into Namibia, Vioolsdrif and Nakop, had all been closed on a number of occasions in recent days.
This morning he said: “Ramatlabama (north-west of Mafikeng) closes at 2pm every day, after opening at 6am."
Further north at Skilpadshek on South Africa’s N4 Platinum Highway towards the Trans-Kalahari Corridor, Port Health staff shortages seemed to have had an even worse effect as the border had been closed for two days, Fitzmaurice said.
“It’s completely unacceptable and an embarrassment to the region if we can’t run our borders.”
Nakop border west of Upington, Fitzmaurice said, had last week closed for 36 hours, leaving trucks with livestock and pharmaceuticals standing in queues in the sun.
He mentioned that last year, during the height of the various lockdown challenges and Covid-19 disruptions experienced at various transits across the region, none of this had happened as the department had appointed temporary staff.
“Now they no longer do so because there’s no money or budget to appoint people.”
Fesarta has in the meantime approached the Border Management Authority (BMA) to answer mounting inquiries from cross-border transporters, but the BMA has apparently replied that there’s nothing they can do about it as the Department of Health has no money to pay for supplementary staff.
“It’s hard to believe that this is happening. At Ramatlabama there is one person working an eight-hour shift. What’s more, we don’t really need Port Health officials. You can use a cell phone app to check the QR code on the back of a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test to check its validity. Something like that can be done by an immigration official.”
Fitzmaurice added that on a recent visit to South Africa’s border towards Maseru in Lesotho, he was asked to stand in two queues: one for checking his PCR certificate and another at immigration.
“When I got to the window the official briefly looked at my PCR test and stamped it before handing it back to me. He didn’t even scan the QR code to make sure it was valid. It seems like a complete waste of time but instead of improving things we rather close our borders. It makes no sense.”
What’s more, drivers heading to other borders to get into countries like Botswana risk expiry of their PCR results as the tests are only valid for 72 hours.
Not making it to Ramatlabama by 2pm, for example, and with Skilpadshek being closed, means a transporter may not make it in time to Kopfontein or Groblersburg much further north – and that's provided there’s Port Health staff to keep those borders open.
Demonstrating the desperation of transporters wanting to make things work, one haulier offered to pay for a nurse to officiate at one of the borders, only to be turned down by authorities.
“It’s an utterly ridiculous situation. Industry in Namibia relies on a daily turnaround time out of countries like South Africa for essential goods. It includes things like trucking spares and so forth to keep its logistics industry going.
“If this carries on it’s just another nail in South Africa’s coffin as a supplier of goods into Botswana and Namibia.”