Chronicle Editor
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE South African government has approved a proposal by its Ministry of Home Affairs to upgrade six of its major ports of entry including the Beitbridge Border Post, which handles more than seven million travelers annually.
Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, told the media in Pretoria on Wednesday that he has since got the full support of the Minister of Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwana, to start rolling the projects.
The six earmarked ports of entry are: Beitbridge – Zimbabwe, Lebombo – Mozambique, Maseru Bridge – Lesotho, Ficksburg – Lesotho, Kopfontein – Botswana and Oshoek – Eswatini.
The move is set to improve efficiency and match the development matrix between South Africa and its neighbours including Zimbabwe, which has since transformed its component of the border.
The Zimbabwean government has completed upgrading Beitbridge Border Post at a cost of US$300 million in a private-public partnership with the Zimborders Consortium.
The Zimbabwean border, which now has three terminals for freight, buses and private cars/pedestrians and is also automated, links South Africa with Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, Angola, DRC, Malawi and Tanzania.
Dr Motsoaledi said the six projects will cover the full infrastructure development of each designated border post and the provision of the required services.
This, he added, will also ensure a coherent and coordinated support of institutional functions of all organs of State present at the port of entry.
“In order to ensure that the ongoing operations at each of the designated ports of entry are not interrupted, construction will be undertaken in phases,” he said.
“During construction, the project is expected to create about 38 000 jobs in areas around the six designated ports of entry.
“The project is being undertaken on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis. The procurement process is therefore subject to the procedures set out in the Treasury Regulation 16 for initiating, procuring and concluding PPP projects”.
Dr Motsoaledi said the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the six Ports of Entry projects were issued last Sunday and they were already inviting interested parties to participate.
The RFP, Dr Motsoaledi said was on the e-tender portal and other government websites, including the department’s website. He said they were now looking for partners to engage them in the planned infrastructure development model.
“When I delivered my speech at the Budget Vote, on 17 May this year, I announced my gratitude at the approval granted by Finance Minister, Mr Enoch Godongwana for the Department of Home Affairs to issue the Request for Proposal to the market for the redesigning and redevelopment of our top six busiest Ports of Entry,” he said.
Since the advent of democracy, there has been an exponential increase in the number of people moving between South Africa and the countries in the region, said Dr Motsoaledi adding that the volume of regional and international trade has similarly increased.
South Africa has 72 Ports of Entry of which 53 are land, 11 are international airports and eight are seaports all of which are now operated by the Border Management Authority.-@tupeyo
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