One-stop border not the only priority for Beitbridge

Plans to make Beitbridge a One Stop
Border Post (OSBP) is one of the items on
an action plan drawn up more than a year
ago to streamline southern Africa’s busiest
border posts.
According to Trade Mark Southern
Africa the action plan, which cannot be
implemented because South African and
Zimbabwean authorities have not yet signed
a Memorandum of Understanding, takes a
macro view of the problems that need to be
addressed at the border post.
But in a progress report on Beitbridge
it was found that even the delivery target,
which was not dependent on the signing of
the MOU, had been missed. This is despite
a clearly documented work programme
developed out of the action plan that
sets out timelines, expected outputs and
outcomes.
“Beitbridge continues to suffer from
heavy congestion and inefficiencies that
not only adversely affect South Africa and
Zimbabwe but all countries that rely on
the Beitbridge border crossing including
DR Congo, Zambia, Malawi and northern
Mozambique,” reads a report on the border
post.
According to experts, the development
of aligned and streamlined border
clearance procedures, legal provisions and
administrative arrangements, along with
the development of an integrated computer
system, are all part of the action plan.