Urgent intervention at Beitbridge needed

18 October 2021

Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbite by Angel Khanyile MP.

The DA calls on the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, to engage with his Zimbabwean counterpart as a matter of urgency following reports that growing numbers of trucks have been stuck at the Beitbridge border post for more than 5 days before being processed into both countries.

The renovations at South Africa’s border with Zimbabwe have caused queues of more than 50 km and truck drivers are stranded without access to water or ablution and sanitation facilities. This poses a risk to their health with both countries still in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The DA also calls on the chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee on home affairs, Mosa Steve Chabane, to schedule an urgent oversight to the Beitbridge border post.

Not only was the supply chain severely compromised when trucks were forced to endure days long queues at Beitbridge in the past, but one driver died in 2020 in similar circumstances. This cannot happen again. The South African and Zimbabwean economies are both dependent on truck drivers and they cannot be put in harm’s way because of a failure to plan contingencies during the renovations at the border.

Issued by Angel Khanyile, DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, 18 October 2021