SA not closing borders in revised level 3

Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
SOUTH Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi yesterday said the neighbouring country will not close its land borders under the Covid-19 level 3 lockdown but will be deploying more workers to enhance a speedy flow of human and vehicular traffic from January 2 to 14.

Already south bound traffic is building up at Beitbridge where curfew hours are now 9PM to 6AM. In the past the curfew hours were 10PM to 6AM.

After 9PM the borders will be closed to general travellers except for commercial trucks.

Under the level 3 lockdown, all indoor and outdoor gatherings are prohibited until 15 January.

In addition, funerals may not be attended by more than 50 people.

Under the new order it has also become mandatory to wear a mask and those who flout this regulation risk being imprisoned for up to six months.

Businesses are required to close by 8PM while night clubs, swimming pools (except for professional training), bars, taverns and shebeens, public parks, including facilities there, where there is no access control are closed to the public.

Under the new restrictions, alcohol sales have been banned, for both off-site and on-site consumption while consumption of alcohol in public spaces is prohibited.

Wine tasting and the selling of liquor to the public in any form is not allowed and transporting liquor is also banned, except where it’s for the use in the manufacturing of hand sanitisers and household cleaning products for export purposes or for storage.

Dr Motsoaledi said this will be done to minimise congestion and to ensure strict and safe Covid-19 screening of all travellers.

The minister said a total of 160 immigration officers, 259 port health workers, 278 community services personnel and 73 military health workers were being deployed to the busiest borders with Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini and Botswana.

Speaking during a press conference yesterday, Dr Motsoaledi said the Department of Health, apart from waiving testing of truck drivers at the borders, was roping in more private players to cater for those who would need additional testing or not having Covid-19 clearance certificates upon arrival.

“We are going to implement plans approved by the National Joint Operations (Natjoints) to ensure we clear traffic expeditiously.

“However, the success of these plans will depend on the co-operation of all role players,” said the Minister.

Dr Motsoaledi said the chaos that rocked the border towards Christmas Day was linked to the increased volume of commercial cargo since other overflow borders were still closed.

In addition, he said, they had to reign in on errant commercial truck drivers who were no longer making use of truck shops, where they are supposed to park vehicles pending the finalisation of customs processes.

The minister said under agreed protocols, trucks are expected to only join the queue to exit or enter the borders when all paperwork has been completed.

“Another 60 additional immigration law enforcement officers will be deployed to support the National Defence Forces at identified high-risk areas along the borderline where people have a tendency to cross illegally into South Africa.

“The immigration officers and the soldiers are not there to stop people from coming into South Africa. They are there to insist that anybody wishing to visit South Africa, must use the official gates of entry and produce all the requisite documentation otherwise, they won’t be allowed in,” he said.

Dr Motsoaledi said the Provincial Joints (ProvJoints) have been activated for policing and that they were conducting roadblocks and vehicle control points within the border law enforcement area.

These, he said, will be highly active in the Limpopo, Free State, Mpumalanga, and Kwazulu Natal provinces.

The minister added that the Cross Border Road Transport Agency will also deploy inspectors at Beitbridge, Lebombo, Maseru Bridge, and Ficksburg for the same duration (2 to 14 January).

“Although, we have had congestion at Beitbridge border post in the last few days, you will realise that only 27 percent of the people who used that border in December last year travelled through in December this year.

“In December 2019, there were 368 895 travellers that crossed Beitbridge in contrast to 103 224 who crossed as of December 27 this year,” said Dr Motsoaledi.

He said a total of 21 800 trucks passed through Beitbridge Border Post this month compared to 19 800 handled during the same period last year.

The minister said the additional 2 000 commercial trucks that were processed at Beitbridge are mainly those that used to transit through Botswana during the festive season. -@tupeyo