Injiva flock back to SA as Easter holiday ends

According to immigration authorities this year, they recorded a sharp increase in number of travellers who passed through Beitbridge during the Easter holidays compared to the same period last year.
According to statistics, a total of 78 939 people were handled by officials between Thursday and Sunday compared to 55 300 last year.
The assistant regional immigration manager in charge of Beitbridge, Mr Charles Gwede said the highest number of travellers was recorded on Good Friday when 27 389 people passed through the entry port.
The least number of travellers who passed through Beitbridge was on Saturday which saw 12 092 people using the border post.
Mr Gwede said the border was busier on the entry side compared to the departure section.
“During the entire Easter holiday period, the border was extremely busy and we recorded 52 112 travellers on the entry side while on the exit side we handled a total of 26 827 travellers and this was largely because we had more Zimbabweans including foreigners from neighbouring SADC countries visiting their homes so that they could be with their families during the holiday period,” he said.
Zimbabweans constituted the highest number of travellers who passed through the border during the holiday period.
Mr Gwede attributed this year’s sharp increase in the movement to the documentation exercise in South Africa, which saw several Zimbabweans acquiring long term study and work permits.
“Most of our people are no longer afraid of travelling home during holidays because of the relaxation of South African immigration laws, which have seen a majority of Zimbabweans working in that country securing long terms permits under the regularisation exercise,” he said.
Mr Gwede said despite the border having been heavily congested during the Easter period, immigration officials efficiently managed the situation, which was also characterised by a huge volume of traffic on the entry side.
“We had put mechanisms in place to deal with congestion hence our officers were able to clear travellers without causing delays,” he said.
Mr Gwede said Beitbridge Border Post required a full staff complement of about 80 officials to effectively manage the situation during the peak period.
“Our staff normally works under pressure, especially when the border is very busy during the peak period hence we need more personnel so that we are able to effectively manage the situation and speed up the clearance of travellers,” he said.
However, when Chronicle visited the border post yesterday evening, the departure side was characterised by long queues as travellers mostly injiva were returning to South Africa. A huge volume of traffic, mostly buses heading down south had congested the border.
Mr Gwede said on Sunday they cleared 99 buses, most of which were South Africa bound.
Immigration officials at Beitbridge Border Post early this month held an inter-border meeting with their South African counterparts and other local key stakeholders.
The meeting was aimed at exploring various strategies to ensure quick clearance of travellers during the holiday period. Traditionally, immigration officials at Beitbridge Border Post handle an increased number of travellers during Easter and Christmas holidays.
Beitbridge Border Post is the busiest inland port of entry in sub-Saharan Africa, which handles a huge volume of both human and vehicular traffic passing though daily.
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. On average the border handles about 10 000 people daily on both entry and exit side with the number increasing to about 25 000 during peak periods.