Truck drivers staged a protest at the Beitbridge Border Post on Tuesday, demanding efficient clearance and passage.
The disgruntled truck drivers blocked the New Limpopo Bridge around midday, complaining that they were spending longer than necessary to pass through the border post.
The blockade delayed the movement of commercial traffic into South Africa and Zimbabwe for more than four hours.
At the height of the protest, the drivers parked a commercial truck blocking Zimbabwe-bound traffic on South Africa’s side of the bridge.
As a result, double queues formed on the road leading to the border in both countries.
The movement system improved around 4 pm when South African and Zimbabwean security officials took control of the situation.
Some drivers who spoke to the Chronicle blamed Zimbabwean customs officials for taking a casual approach.
They also accused Zimbabwean authorities of conducting numerous checks, which were unnecessary and led to avoidable delays. Said Innocent Moyo:
We can’t stand these delays; some of us are being mugged while in queues on the South African border and we have many challenges like access to water and ablution facilities.
Our hope is that things will get better with the new freight terminal opening but what is disturbing is that we are not seeing commitment from our border officials to get things moving.
An average of 1 200 commercial trucks passes through the Beitbridge Border Post daily.
The Chronicle reported that their efforts to get a comment from Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officials failed yesterday.