Zimbabweans who travelled to and from the neighbouring country during the holidays endured a frustrating stay at the border, which took days and gave way to police corruption.
Queues were mostly caused by South African officials who failed to clear the large volumes of travellers in their offices, despite the government’s December claims that it had made plans to deal with the pressure.
Mkuseli Apleni, the Department of Home Affairs’ Director-general, said beginning on December 15, they would deploy more than 300 staff members and extend working hours.
“South Africa’s management of their side of the border was very poor,” said Lizwe Gwebu, who travelled on Monday. “Some people fainted in the queues and still got no help from the officials and police.”
Seeing the commotion, police on the Zimbabwean side of the border allegedly began to charge drivers between R500 and R1 500 for quick passage through the border.
“We had to pay R500 to get our vehicle across the border on our way back to South Africa but not before we had spent three days in the queue,” said freelance journalist, Aaron Dube.
Post published in: News