as people travel to SA to shopThe border post, which now facilitates the passage of 7,000 people from Zimbabwe into South Africa everyday, on Sunday ran out of declaration forms. On top of the increased responsibility coming with the visa waiver, the Beitbridge border post was already struggling to handle huge amounts of cargo passing through.
Several haulage trucks transporting goods to countries such as Zambia, Democratic of Congo (DRC) and Malawi pass through the border. The blue declaration forms were nowhere in sight and Zimbabweans returning from South Africa had to endure a long wait as customs officers tried to rectify the situation.
“It’s shocking that we have to wait here this long because some people decided not to do their job. All these people want to go to their homes and are prepared to pay the duty for their goods but now have to beg to pay duty,” said Alicia Muchemeyi, who was travelling from Johannesburg and had been waiting for six hours.
A duty supervisor who could not give his name because he is not authorised to speak to the media, told The Zimbabwean that the shortage of material was caused by the increased number of people travelling to South Africa for shopping.
“A lot of people in Beitbridge and other nearby areas such as Rutenga, Gwanda, and Bulawayo actually prefer to cross into Messina to do their shopping because they still believe the prices across the border are lower than those charged across here (Zimbabwe).”
The situation was only solved after ZIMRA officers decided to use scrap paper cut into small pieces as declaration forms.
Post published in: World News