Africa, Development & Aid, Economy & Trade, Headlines, Trade & Investment, Trade and poverty: Facts beyond theory

SOUTH AFRICA: Visa Waiver ‘‘Encumbering’’ Zimbabwean Trade

Stanley Kwenda

HARARE, Jun 3 2009 (IPS) - The South African government’s removal of visa requirements for Zimbabweans in April was aimed at easing entry for people still reeling from the crisis in Zimbabwe. But, for Alice Kakwindi, Grace Chimhosva and other cross-border traders, entering South Africa has subsequently turned into a nightmare.

Alice Kakwindi and Grace Chimhosva waiting at Beitbridge. Credit:  Stanley Kwenda/IPS

Alice Kakwindi and Grace Chimhosva waiting at Beitbridge. Credit: Stanley Kwenda/IPS

On the two occasions that they have visited South Africa’s border town of Musina since the relaxation of visa requirements, they spent on average 16 hours trying to clear their goods at the Beitbridge border post. Previously it took them no more than four hours to go through both immigration and customs formalities.

‘‘The process is now very slow. We arrived at one a.m. It’s 12 pm the next day and we are still here,’’ Kakwindi told IPS. The two traders make a living from buying and selling whatever goods are in short supply in Zimbabwe’s capital of Harare.

Zimbabwe and South Africa’s governments signed an agreement last month dropping visa requirements for Zimbabwean passport holders travelling into South Africa. The agreement allows Zimbabweans entry into South Africa on a 90 day pass and permits them to seek employment.

The move is seen as a major move towards the free movement of people in the sub-region.

Since then, business at the Beitbridge border post, the busiest in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, has almost come to a standstill because of the vastly increased numbers of Zimbabweans now visiting South Africa.


South African border authorities say Zimbabweans entering South Africa has more than doubled from 3,000 to 7,000 a day. But the biggest problem is on the Zimbabwean side of the border where travellers are spending on average 10 hours waiting to cross the border.

Although many Zimbabweans are grateful for the lifting of visa restrictions, they feel the move should have been facilitated with the boosting of human resources at the entry points. ‘‘The problem is that the move was not backed by an increase in the number of people working at the border,’’ Kakwindi pointed out.

The Beitbridge border post now resembles a big automobile market as long and winding queues of vehicles and people seeking to go through customs clearance have become a common feature. The queues stretch for more than a kilometre and move at a snail’s pace.

Many travellers blame the slow pace of business at the border to new measures introduced by the Zimbabwean coalition government. The measures are aimed at plugging incidences of smuggling of goods into the country without payment of duty.

‘‘Such searches are meant to protect fiscal revenue, public health and safety, among others," Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) legal and corporate services commissioner Faith Jambwa told IPS. She added that the physical inspection of goods was a routine part in the clearing of goods that are being imported or exported.

As a result of this new policy, ZIMRA conducts searches on every person crossing into Zimbabwe.

‘‘A lot of people have been smuggling goods into the country without paying duty. They hide their goods under seats in the buses. It is because of such people that this policy has been introduced,’’ said a ZIMRA duty supervisor who asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The ZIMRA officers take about one hour to search through a single bus crossing the border. He added that border operations have also been affected by a lack of stationery that runs out as a result of the dramatic swelling of traveller volumes. ‘‘We often run out of stationery such as clearing and declaration forms,’’ the ZIMRA official told IPS.

Custom and immigration officials at the post complained about being short-staffed to handle searches of all vehicles in compliance with the strict check-up procedures ordered by the new government.

During IPS’s visit to the border post, emotions ran high as uncooperative, angry and delayed motorists clash with customs officials.

Zimbabweans attempting to cross into South Africa using their national identity cards made the situation worse. Despite the waiver on visas, the charge for obtaining a passport is still too high for many ordinary Zimbabweans. A regular passport cost 310 dollars, a figure beyond the reach of many in a country where civil servants subsist on a 100 dollar salary monthly.

To make matters worse, operations on the Zimbabwean side of the border are yet to be computerised.

But for Kakwindi and Chimhosva all this means that they now have to reduce the number of occasions that they travel to Musina to purchase goods for resale. ‘‘We used to travel twice a month to buy goods for resale but we now dread the border delays. Every time I feel my health is affected by the sleepless nights at the border,’’ Kakwindi told IPS.

Zimbabwe’s co-minister of home affairs, Kembo Mohadi, acknowledged the delays at the border. ‘‘There are delays but these are being addressed by the increase in staff to meet the growth in people now travelling after the visa waiver,’’ Mohadi told IPS.

 
Republish | | Print |


analytics data science & artificial intelligence systems for decision support