Chronicle Editor
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
COMMERCIAL cargo destined for several countries north of the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers has since Monday been piling up at the Beitbridge border post following a strike by South African Revenue Services (SARS) employees over a pay rise.
Chronicle is reliably informed that the revenue and customs officers are demanding a 12 percent salary increase but the employer is offering 1,69 percent.
As a result of the stalemate, the SARS offices and borders are now being manned by senior managers who don’t fall under the collective bargaining forum.
The state of affairs has led to the slow movement of commercial cargo entering or leaving South Africa.
At its peak, the Beitbridge border post clears between 900 and 1 200 trucks per day.
Long and slow-moving queues of commercial trucks have become a common feature on the main highways leading to Bulawayo and Harare in Zimbabwe and Musina in South Africa.
The Beitbridge Port of Entry links South Africa to other Sadc countries including Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, DRC, Tanzania, and Angola.
In a statement yesterday, SARS said it had come up with some contingency plans to ensure continued services to clients pending the resolution of the salaries dispute.
“SARS apologises for any inconvenience caused but due to the industrial action taking place across SARS, we are experiencing delays in servicing our taxpayers,” said the revenue collector.
“While some branches may be closed to the public, they will continue to honour virtual appointments, as booked.
“In the event that a virtual booking is not honoured please note that the branch will follow up to do the necessary service recovery. Please continue to also make use of our digital services during this time.”
South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said on Thursday that they were hopeful that SARS and its employees will find common ground in the interest of trade facilitation.
The Minister visited Beitbridge to unveil the first batch of 200 Border Guards, which have been deployed to strengthen operations at the ports with Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.
These fall under the newly-constituted Border Management Authority which is operating under the Home Affairs Ministry pending its weaning off in April next year.
“We have heard about the strike here and this has nothing to do with Home Affairs, but our hope is that the SARS commissioner and the employees will resolve the issues as soon as possible,” said Minister Motsoaledi.
In separate interviews, Zimbabwean border authorities said the clearance of trucks going into either country was depressing.
“We are clearing the vehicles in small numbers because of the congestion on the South African side. We are hoping that a solution will be arrived at soon,” said a border official.
Truck drivers said they were spending almost half a day crossing into either country because of the ongoing strike in South Africa.
Under the current set up all commercial bills of entry are being processed electronically and these are processed at Harare, Masvingo, and Bulawayo Document Processing Centres (DPC).
When these bills of entry are processed the trucks are then given the green light to the port of entry or exit where authorities there only check for conformity.
Mr Petros Nyuke said under normal circumstances, they spend less than one hour to complete all the border formalities at the border, especially after the streamlining of operations at the new freight terminal.
“We are told there is a job action in South Africa and this is delaying our movement as truck drivers,” he said.
A customs clearing agent, Mr Hardlife Majaya said they were worried about the state of affairs south of the Limpopo River.
He said having many vehicles along the roads which are under construction was causing traffic jams.
“I have been at this same spot for more than one hour because of the slow clearance for passage into South Africa.
“Usually I take less than one hour to get into South Africa,” said another driver Mr Jake — Makoko. @tupeyo
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