An uneasy peace has descended on the Copperbelt crossing of Kasumbalesa after it emerged yesterday that the border blockade had been resolved – a statement by delegates from Lubumbashi that striking drivers seems to be refuting.
According to the ‘resolution’, delegates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) said operations at the border had resumed from 6am yesterday, resulting in road freight flowing in both directions.
The following had also apparently been undertaken as part of the resolution:
- Operating hours for clearing of cargo will run from 06h00 to 20h00, seven days a week with the hours of 20h00 to O6h00 to be used for backend operations such as document processing for the following day.
- Three patrol vehicles will be deployed by the DRC with immediate effect along the routes used for international trade.
- Drivers to utilise the toll-free line +2430828 472 231 for reporting security concerns. The line will be managed by the Ministry of Interior.
- DRC and Zambia will monitor the security situation and report on a regular basis.
According to information shared with the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), “the resolution was presented to drivers and accepted by drivers”.
This, though, has since been refuted by more than one of Fesarta’s cross-border road freight members.
Word on the ground is that the resolution is one-sided, that drivers were forced into it while questions they have over certain matters remain unanswered.
Meanwhile fears remain that drivers serving copper mine clients and supply chain destinations in the DRC are still working in dangerous conditions, exposed to the violent extortionist practices of road-side bandits and crooked law enforcement officials.
As for the resolution – transporters are openly dissing what many has described as unilateral nonsense.
One operator said: “How can I trust this?
“How can drivers accept this? Are these the only issues we have? What about the crossing fees. What about the fact that we have to pay thousands of dollars to the DRC but when they enter our countries it’s virtually free.”
At the time this report was posted it was not confirmed what the situation was like at the Kasumbalesa border between Zambia and the DRC.
Earlier this week, trucks had backed up all the way south beyond Chingola about 45 kilometres south of the border after drivers refused to cross into the DRC.
The blockade had built up after a spate of attacks on trucks last week that apparently resulted in the death of two drivers.
Although it seems that the past week’s driver resistance at the border had resulted in some action from authorities in the DRC, it remains to be seen whether three patrol vehicles are enough to safeguard drivers swerving the Copperbelt route in the Congo – a distance of about 400 kilometres from Kasumbalesa to Kolwezi on the other side of Lubumbashi.
