A plan to completely overhaul and rebuild six of South Africa’s busiest border posts has been on the cards for some time, but little is known about its progress.According to cross-border expert and consultant Barbara Mommen, there has been little transparency from the Border Management Authority (BMA) regarding the details and what it will mean for users.The BMA revealed plans to overhaul and rebuild South Africa’s six busiest border posts, – Beitbridge, Lebombo, Oshoek, Kopfontein, Maseru Bridge and Ficksburg – during a joint briefing session with the then Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula, in 2022. At the time officials said a public request for proposals would be issued within a “few months” for the ambitious R6 billion project.“This, and the one stop border post plans have been slow to come to light, which is a major concern, particularly where the OSBP policy is not looking like it will be applied based on the particularities of each border post,” Mommen said. “Instead, it seems one model is favoured for application to all the border posts, which is a f lawed approach. “We have too often seen the development of infrastructure and facilities which are intended to ease trade f lows and improve the movement of people and goods and these are built without sufficient engagement from the users of the facilities to gain insight into the critical dimensions and elements for efficient f low and processing.”She said any overhaul of border posts needed to include wide engagement with stakeholders and users to ensure that the end product met the needs of people working on the ground.“Then of course the concern of potential disruption to trade is considerable. It seems there is little will to deal with these issues which have a major impact on the regional economies.”Mommen told Freight News the lack of urgency amongst government agencies was just as worrying as projects took ages to take off – if at all.“What is necessary is for some work to happen at our border posts to implement changes that in the interim will have a positive impact on traffic f lows. “We have seen the benefit of recent changes to the exit gate at Lebombo into Ressano Garcia by TRAC N4, from a traffic movement point of view. “But on the systems and processing issues, there is a huge need for regular bilateral engagement between corridor countries, and this is not happening either. “Mozambique has still to finalise its Mutual Recognition Agreement with South Africa on the AEO programme, and there is still very little customs to customs data sharing, which is essential for reducing r isk.”For Mommen, the major delays at border posts need to be addressed as they not only impact the efficiency and predictability of cargo movements, but speak directly to competitiveness of international supply chains.“The fact that there is very little change from year to year does bring into question the political will of governments to do the right thing as opposed to doing what has always been done and expecting a different result.”
