SA sets plans in motion to upgrade its 6 borders

Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau 

SOUTH Africa has put plans in motion to upgrade its six border posts to match the Second Republic’s development trajectory which has seen Government complete the US$300 million Beitbridge Border Post modernisation project. 

ZimBorders Consortium, working in partnership with the Government, transformed the Beitbridge Border Post into an enviable world-class facility, which has completely changed the face of the border town.

The massive infrastructure development initiative is a build, operate, and transfer (BOT) arrangement. 

Under the arrangement, the consortium will manage and maintain the infrastructure for 17 years to recoup the costs and also realise profits from its investment before handing over the facility to Government.

Beitbridge is one of the busiest border posts in Africa, which not only connects Zimbabwe and South Africa but also serves as the transit point for the majority of north-south trade in southern Africa.

The massive project is one of the key economic and developmental initiatives successfully implemented by the Second Republic across the country, and at its inception, created employment for more than 1 500 locals in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1). 

The modernisation of the Beitbridge Border Post is in line with Vision 2030, which seeks to attain an upper middle-income economy.

The upgrading and modernisation of Beitbridge Border Post will also speed up the implementation of the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) concept between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Under the OSBP travellers and cargo will be cleared once for entry and exit in both countries.

It is one of the milestone projects undertaken by the Second Republic to enhance the ease of doing business and trade facilitation for the whole region.

Inspired by the Beitbridge Border upgrade, South Africa intends to modernise its border with Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini which are Beitbridge, Lebombo, Maseru Bridge, Kopfontein, Ficksburg, and Oshoek respectively.

In October last year, President Mnangagwa and his South African counterpart, President Cyril Ramaphosa met and toured the upgraded Beitbridge Border Post which now has three permanent terminals, biometrics systems, and is automated.

Pretoria approved the plans to upgrade its land borders in September last year and already potential contractors have visited the sites of the selected ports of entry.

In a statement, South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) deputy assistant commissioner for communications and marketing, Ms Mmemme Mogosi said following the site visits several requests were received from the potential bidders to extend the deadline for the submission of proposals.

“In September last year, the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi briefed the media on the publication of a request for proposals (RFP) to the public for the re-development of the six priority land ports of entry project,” she said.

“The RFP was published on the 3 September 2023 wherein interested parties were invited to submit bids on a Public Private Partnership arrangement by 4 March 2024. The RFP was published on the e-tender portal, other government websites and Sunday newspapers.” 

Ms Mogosi said the re-development of the designated ports of entry is one of the programmes that the BMA and the Department of Home Affairs are pursuing on a Public Private Partnership arrangement to improve the facilitation of people and goods across the ports.

She said the six priority land ports of entry project covers the full infrastructure development of each designated port of entry and the provision of required services to support the functioning of the BMA and its stakeholders. 

To ensure that the ongoing operations at each of the designated ports of entry are not interrupted, construction will be undertaken in a phased approach. 

Ms Mogosi said between October and November last year, potential bidders undertook organised site visits to the six ports of entry to assess the current state of the infrastructure and to appreciate the complexity of the work at hand.