Border extremely busy during festive period

The number of travellers who passed through the Beit Bridge Border Post during the festive period shot up to more than 600 000 surpassing the previous season’s 524 511.
Zimbabwe’s assistant regional immigration manager in charge of the border post, Mr Charles Gwede, said they handled 646 779 travellers on both exit and arrivals sides between 1 December and 2 January.
The highest number of travellers was recorded on 21 December, when immigration officials cleared 36 130 travellers on both entry and exit sides. On the departure side, the highest number was recorded on January 2 when 15 324 people left Zimbabwe.
Gwede said most of the travellers that they cleared were Zimbabweans working in South Africa who had visited home for the Christmas holiday.
Gwede attributed the increase in the number of travellers to the South African documentation exercise, which saw many Zimbabweans working in the country acquiring permits.
Unlike in January last year, the border was less congested. “We did not encounter major challenges this time, despite an increase in the number of travellers compared to previous years. This is partly because of a phenomenal shift in movement trends, coupled with our decongestion strategies. We harmonised our operations with our South African counterparts, which is precisely why we managed to arrest congestion. Once there is congestion on either side of the border, it automatically affects movement on both sides,” said Gwede.
He said the movement of travellers, especially Zimbabweans working in SA, was spread out as people travelled earlier compared to the previous years, a development that also contributed to a reduction in congestion.
Last year during this time, the border was characterised by long, winding queues of cars, which stretched for more than 10km on the road leading to the port of entry and, in the process, disrupting the smooth flow of traffic in Beit Bridge.
Beit Bridge Border Post handles about 8 000 travellers daily, with the figures doubling up during peak periods such as the festive period.
- LiN News/Limpopo Mirror