The Border Management Authority (BMA) has “increased capacity” to deal with the drastic increase in truck traffic heading through South Africa’s Kopfontein Border Post into Botswana.
It includes the deployment of additional personnel to handle volumes at the congested crossing on the R49, BMA commissioner Dr Michael Masiapato told Freight News.
He said the closure of the Groblersbrug Border Post due to recent flooding meant the BMA had to assure officials that they had the necessary means to “handle the volume at Kopfontein”.
Mike Fitzmaurice, regional vice president of the African Union’s Organisation for Transport and Logistics, said the 20-kilometre queues from last weekend had been substantially reduced.
Depending on the amount of trucks arriving at the border, queues of five to seven kilometres wait at various times to pass through Kopfontein.
Responding to a social media remark that there seemed to be a lack of urgency from the BMA, Masiapato said: “We are throwing the kitchen sink (at this problem) as you suggest, unless you have another proposal on what we need to do more.”
Regarding recommendations that the customs area be moved away from the flood-prone Limpopo River, Masiapato said: “The need to relocate Groblers Bridge is very clear given its physical location, which is at the flood line.
“The public-private partnership process for the redesigning and redevelopment of the top six commercial land ports is progressing well.”
But according to Fitzmaurice, earmarked land border upgrades by the Department of Public Works don’t include Groblersbrug.
The latter claim is part of a developing story.
