The Beit Bridge Border Post was heavily congested on Monday as scores of travellers were flocking into South Africa for shopping ahead of the festive period.

When Limpopo Mirror visited the border post on the South African side, travellers could be seen queuing outside the immigration tent. Buses and light vehicles had virtually occupied the entire parking space, resulting in congestion.

On the Zimbabwean side, however, the queues were manageable compared to South Africa, where meandering queues stretched for about 2km. Police and immigrations officials had a hard time as they tried to control the queues.

Some travellers, particularly the local residents, had to cancel their trips to the neighbouring country, due to delays. “I had to return home, because the queues are just unbearable. It looks like South African immigration officials are not keen on serving travellers, unlike on the Zimbabwean side, where the queues were faster,” said Ms Jane Ndou of Dulibadzimu.

Another traveller, Mr Jabulani Ndlovu of Bulawayo, said: “I spent several hours in the queues on the South African side of the border. In fact, I arrived at Beit Bridge Border at around 06:00 and border officials cleared me very fast. On entering the other side of the border, it was horrible as it was characterised by long winding queues. I ended up leaving the border for Musina at around midnight.”

Most of the travellers who spoke to Limpopo Mirror said they were travelling to South Africa for early Christmas shopping as way of trying to evade the queues which normally characterize the border during the festive period. “I decided to do my Christmas shopping early, because I didn’t want to be inconvenienced when the border gets busy and heavily congested during the festive period,” said Ms Sandra Tlou of Gwanda.

A South African Home Affairs official, who declined to be named, attributed the queues to an unanticipated sudden increase in the volume of both human and vehicular traffic. “These queues are largely because of a sudden increase in the movement of people against a small staff complement. We haven’t received more officers to beef up the local staff as is usually the case during the run-up to the festive season,” said the official.

Zimbabwe’s assistant regional immigration manager in charge of Beit Bridge Border Post, Mr Charles Gwede, confirmed the latest development, which he also attributed to an influx of travellers, heading to South Africa for shopping.

“Most people got their bonuses and they are going to South Africa for shopping, which is why we have long queues at the border. However, on our side we are managing and people are moving smoothly,” he said.

Long queues at the Beit Bridge border are a common sight, particularly during month end as many Zimbabweans cross to South Africa for shopping. The Beit Bridge Border Post is the busiest inland port of entry in sub-Saharan Africa. Commercial trucks destined for East and Central African countries such as Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia also pass through the border post.