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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko has lashed out at Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) workers at Beitbridge border post whom he accused of poor service delivery.
He said said the poor service had resulted in an increase in cases of smuggling between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
“The expatriate attitude by some government workers at the border post, especially those from Zimra, is deplorable. It’s high time people changed their approach towards work or we’ll have to change them,” said VP Mphoko during a visit to assess the state of Beitbridge border post on Friday last week.
Zimra, VP Mphoko said, is collecting around $2 million at Beitbridge border post a day and the border post contributes 70 percent of all customs revenue collected by the parastatal and therefore cannot afford to provide poor service.
“The country can’t be held to ransom by selfish people. Even during my days as ambassador to South Africa I would avoid this border because Zimra had become a government on its own,” said VP Mphoko
Meanwhile, VP Mphoko said the government was committed to speeding up processes towards the setting up of a one-stop border post with South Africa at Beitbridge.
He said the chaotic situation obtaining at the border post, the busiest port in the region, had increased opportunities for corruption and unnecessary delays of cargo movement and tourist arrivals.
VP Mphoko said under the proposed new order, travellers will be cleared once for passage into either country.
At the moment, people travelling to South Africa queue for clearance on the Zimbabwean side of the border and go through the same process to enter South Africa and vice-versa.
“We’re very concerned with the situation at Beitbridge where cargo is taking two weeks to be cleared and this results in unnecessary costs on the part of importers, said VP Mphoko. Furthermore, the chaotic situation has seen some people avoiding this port of entry.
“So far, we’ve carried out an assessment of the operations at Chirundu where we’re implementing the same concept with Zambia and it has proved to be very effective. The turnaround time of clearing cargo and human traffic is pleasing.”
VP Mphoko said the rationale behind the concept of a one-stop border post was to put in place physical facilities, systems and processes that improve the ability of the two countries to perform joint border controls.
He said the delays at the Beitbridge border post had seen other countries in the Sadc region, Zambia, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo in particular looking at the possibility of opening up another border post in the Nakala area of Mozambique.
He said Zimbabwe risked losing a lot of potential revenue in the event the Nakala concept succeeded.
VP Mphoko said the face-lifting and recapitalisation of the Beitbridge border post to meet modern standards was urgently needed.
Online Reporter