The Beitbridge queue saga, now a thing of the past because of the implementation of standard operating procedures, has ‘attained’ a Rip van Winkle twist.
This after the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Limpopo Province announced earlier this week that it would be investigating the bottlenecking of traffic in the northbound lane south of the crossing between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
According to Netwerk24, HRC head in the province, Victor Mavhidula, said unless determined action was taken to find solutions for the traffic buildup, a humanitarian crisis was looming.
Not to make light of the situation in which truck drivers found themselves at the height of the congestion, waiting in queues for days on end in soaring temperatures and with little access to amenities and little opportunity to rest, Machidula deserves some sort of Johnny Come Lately recognition.
The Beitbridge Border Post between South Africa and Limpopo has now been free of congestion for almost a week.
Not being informed of the current situation is also not entirely his fault as most news sources in South Africa no longer reported on the story when the sensational aspect ended.
When the trucks started flowing because of certain interventions taken by border agencies on both sides of the Limpopo River, most journalists lost interest and moved onto the next bad-news story.
Said Mike Fitzmaurice, chief director of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations: “When the border wasn’t working, I was overwhelmed with email inquiries for information about what was happening.
“Now that the congestion has been sorted out, no one is interested in updates about what’s happening at Beitbridge.”
