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Thupeyo Muleya

Beitbridge Bureau

Government intends to look into its contractual obligations with the New Limpopo Bridge (Pvt) Ltd, which built the bridge linking Zimbabwe to South Africa, to expedite the operation of the Beitbridge Bridge Fund, a Cabinet minister has said.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube last week said the agreement would guide the Government on the collection and use of bridge toll fees collected from motorists leaving or entering the country through Beitbridge Border Post.

New Limpopo Bridge funded the construction of the second bridge linking the two countries in 1994 under a Build Operate and Transfer arrangement which expired in 2014 when the company handed it over to the two governments.

The then Transport Ministers, Dr Obert Mpofu (Zimbabwe) and Ms Dipuo Peters (South Africa) signed an agreement to establish the Beitbridge Bridge Development Fund to finance key infrastructure projects in Musina and Beitbridge towns.

The Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) is collecting millions of dollars in toll fees from the bridge on behalf of Government.

However, six years down the line, the Beitbridge Bridge Fund is yet to be established.

Minister Ncube said there was urgent need for the Government to relook at the document to initiate all the processes leading to the release of the funds as agreed.

“As the Government, we have noted the concerns from Beitbridge legislators (Albert Nguluvhe and Ruth Maboyi) on the existence of such a document, which will see us committing part of the funds raised from the border to the town’s infrastructure development initiatives,” said the Minister.

“It is true that the town is the face of Zimbabwe to those entering from South Africa. We need to fund the growth of infrastructure in this place to match its strategic location as a transit point with high economic activity.”

He said there was also need to push for resource allocation to upgrade water and sanitation facilities which were a very critical component for urban development.

“While we wait for closure concerning the implementation of the Beitbridge Bridge Fund, I urge the local leaders here to seek more resources through the devolution funds.”

Minister Ncube said the legislators had requested for more funds from revenue generated at the border post, some of which would be spent on building more secondary schools with boarding facilities.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) was collecting a total of $1,6 billion quarterly hence the need to spruce up one of the Government’s cash cows.

Over 100 000 transit trucks and 50 000 locally bound trucks and 6 million travellers access Zimbabwe or South Africa via Beitbridge annually.

Goods worth over US$2 billion are imported via the same border from South Africa, annually an average of 3 000 cross border buses and 150 000 light vehicles also pass through Beitbridge monthly.