The queue of 100 trucks that extended south of the Beitbridge border between South Africa and Zimbabwe yesterday due to a water supply problem at the SA Revenue Service (Sars) had this morning shrunk back to about 11 trucks.
As yesterday’s queue grew longer and longer, along with the waiting time at the border, frustration among transporters shifted to disbelief at how this could be happening yet again.
In April this year service delivery issues at the border also disrupted cargo movement at the Limpopo River crossing, eventually leading to the suspension of operations.
Yesterday a source told Freight News that operations at Beitbridge had again been hobbled on the South African side of the border because of “no water, no power and no network due to a dysfunctional generator”.
As recently as September, an escalation of load-shedding at the border severely disrupted operations when backup power failed after officials discovered that the generator didn’t have enough diesel to keep operations running.
When the supply of water was finally restored at 16:00 yesterday afternoon, it had been 24 hours – at least – that the crucial crossing had had no running water.
Mike Fitzmaurice, chief executive of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations, said it was largely thanks to ZimBorders that the backlog going into Zimbabwe could be sorted out so soon.
He said it was due to the efficient infrastructure of the concession company that trucks traffic heading north could be speeded up.
“The problem, however, remains the delays caused by non-existent backup service on the SA side.
“Since when do you close a border for no running water when some border posts in other African countries don't have running water full stop?
“And yet they still operate effectively and facilitate trade by having a backup plan and have drummed water in place so you can still flush toilets manually and have water dispensers with basins and liquid soap installed in the ablution facilities,” Fitzmaurice said.
He added that it was simply not acceptable that backup power south of Beitbridge was not properly managed, and that it stemmed from South Africa’s dysfunctional Border Management Authority.
Because of intermittent disruptions experienced south of the border, questions remain about how long before a generator running out of diesel - or something similar that’s entirely avoidable - will again affect cargo passing through Beitbridge.
