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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Dr Siyabonga Cwele on Thursday visited Beitbridge Border Post to observe the level of service delivery at this port of entry, which is the busiest in SADC.

There has been a marked increase in the volume of travellers entering or leaving the country through Beitbridge due to the festive season.

He was accompanied by Musina Mayor Clr Mihloti Muhlophe, Musina Speaker Clr Gilbert Netshisaulu, chief whip Clr Fistos Mafela and other senior leaders.

The minister and his delegations were briefed on the port operations by staff members of some of the government institutions which operate at Beitbridge.

In a statement released soon after the tour, Dr Cwele said over 200 000 travellers had accessed the border between December 1 and December 17, 2018.

“This number is expected to increase with Christmas and New Year periods approaching. I am happy with the operations we witnessed at Beitbridge today and one is confident that the measures we have put in place will assist to ease travel for visitors using this port. We don’t want people to spend a lot of time here at the border whether they are departing or arriving.

“It is also pleasing to note the cooperation amongst the different State agencies operating at the port. We will continue to have increased capacity at this and all our other border posts until January 9, 2019,” said Dr Cwele.

He appealed to travellers to ensure that they have all their documents and they should be legible and recently certified.

He added that he will be visiting selected ports of entry during this peak period to monitor service delivery and interact with travellers.

“One of the biggest task of Home Affairs is to facilitate ease of travel at our ports of entry. This has a big impact on tourism, trade and investment. This could ultimately improve economic growth,” said Dr Cwele.

Musina Mayor Clr Muhlophe also the cooperation between border authorities and border towns such as Musina was important to ensure that people cross the borders with the correct documents and to manage crime.

“This cooperation enables our local authority to escalate possible challenges to the relevant departments and to jointly work on solving them,” she said.

In August the neighbouring country’s opposition party, the Democratic Alliance’s shadow Minister of Home Affairs Mr Haniff Hoosen visited Beitbridge Border Post on a similar mission.

He was accompanied by the party’s Limpopo Provincial Leader, Mr Jacques Smalle and the provincial spokesperson on Safety and Security, Mr Katlego Suzan Phala.