The Beitbridge border post has been characterised by chaos over the past few weeks with abnormally long queues stretching as far as 20 kilometres.
Reacting to the situation, Zimbabwe’s Education Minister, David Coltart, said in a Facebook post that the situation at the border post remained “intolerable, unacceptable”.
Coltart suggested that a new border post be considered between the two countries. “We have to move from talk to urgent action. This situation needs a massive, urgent effort by both the South African and Zimbabwean governments. If need be, we should be considering the construction of another road to South Africa."
South Africa has since agreed to send more immigration officers to Beitbridge to speed up the clearance of travellers and cargo. It also said it wanted to build additional roads for heavy vehicles at the country's border with Zimbabwe.
Director of Discover Africa Group, Steve Conradie said the situation was a hindrance for tour operators and tourists alike. “Any congested border post attracts unwanted elements looking to prey on unsuspecting tourists bewildered and frustrated with the disorderly manner in which the border posts are run. This often leads to horrific experiences for the tourists, giving travellers to Africa a bad impression.”
Ken Hill, Co-founder of Drifters, said Beitbridge had long been a problem for the company. “It can take literally hours to get a group of tourists across the border and so we do all in our power to avoid it. It is definitely hindering tourism flow to Zimbabwe.”
He, however, disagrees with Coltart’s notion that building a new border post and road would solve the problem.
“The infrastructure is currently in place to allow for smooth crossings but the culture of absolute chaos on both sides of the border is the cause of the massive delays. Because of the lack of control, there are often hundreds of people ‘hanging around’ within the border post areas. This causes congestion and vehicle log-jams etc. It also encourages corruption,” said Hill.
Conradie agrees with Hill that an additional border post will not solve the problem.
“A lot can and needs to be done to improve the flow and experience. Better infrastructure, improved systems and visible, active policing alone will make a huge difference to improving the experience of the traveller. There are busier border posts around the world that are a lot more efficient. All it will take is a visit by the respective decision makers, a lesson or two to be learnt and structured implementation to take place. An additional border post with the same flawed system will be just another waste of taxpayers’ money,” said Conradie.
Hill said a step-by-step process should be outlined from the start and the solution would be to:
• Provide suitable truck parking for the many freight vehicles that currently jam up the access road and border areas whilst their drivers wait for "clearance".
• Control access to the actual border post areas - only people who are crossing should be allowed access. No hawkers etc.
• Provide adequate signage so that everyone knows which counter to go to first, what forms are necessary etc. “
• Ensure there should be officials and a separate queue dedicated to dealing with "problems". This would ensure quick service for those that have their documents in order.
• Ensure officials controlling the access gate monitor the loads and only allow further traffic in once a backlog has been cleared.
Hill added that if one wanted to really improve current infrastructure, a simple drive-through should be created, where vehicles stop at a counter and are processed without having to get out. “It is a bit of a joke that whilst bona-fide tourists wait hours in the queues to cross, the majority are simply walking across the border unhindered just a few kilometres upstream,” said Hill.
No comments:
Post a Comment