Queues have resurfaced at the Beit Bridge border post, amid reports that the South African immigration authorities are failing to cope with the increasing volume of travellers.

Travellers from countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia are the worst affected. Long winding queues have become a common sight at the South African side of the border.

Travellers told Limpopo Mirror that passing through the Beit bridge border has become a nightmare. “We are forced to spend about seven hours queuing at the South African side. We urge South African Home Affairs to look into this issue as a matter of urgency, even if it means reviewing their day-to-day operations,” said a traveller.

Our correspondent also noted that some travellers had to cancel their trips to South Africa due to fears of being trapped in the queues. Zimbabwe’s assistant regional immigration officer in charge of the border post, Mr Charles Gwede, said they were in the process of engaging their South African counterparts on the issue of delays. “We are set to meet with them, so that we can iron out some of the challenges facing travellers as they cross the border. We want to ensure a smooth flow of both human and vehicular traffic between our borders.”

Contacted for comment earlier this week, the spokesperson of the South Africa border control operation co-ordinating committee, Mr Calvin Mulaudzi, said they had since deployed a special team to the border to investigate border operations and the trends of traffic movement. He said they would meet with their Zimbabwean counterparts soon over the issue. “We had very long queues at the weekend, but they were manageable. We have a team investigating the movement trends at the border, so that we can adjust on staff deployments and other logistical issues.”

In January, Zimbabwe’s Home Affairs Minister, Mr Kembo Mohadi, had talks with his South African counterpart, Mrs Naledi Pandor, after the situation had turned volatile. In some instances, queues of vehicles stretched for more than 10km into the Zimbabwean border, with some travellers spending days while awaiting clearance.