Innocent Sibonginkosi Ncube | Mat South Correspondence
BEITBRIDGE – A festive season surge of returning citizens has brought Zimbabwe’s busiest border post to a near standstill, with travellers reporting waits of up to nine hours and alleging corrupt practices that allowed some to jump the endless queues.
Thousands of holidaymakers, streaming home from South Africa for Christmas, faced scenes of desperation at the Beitbridge border on Sunday. The most severe delays were for motorists required to obtain Temporary Import Permits (TIPs) for foreign-registered vehicles, with lines snaking for hours under the scorching sun.
The bottleneck has sparked frustration and accusations against border officials. One traveller, who spoke to Zim GBC News after a gruelling nine-hour wait, highlighted a critical flaw in the system.
“I filled in the TIP information online as recommended by ZIMRA, but the problem is that you still need to pay physically at Beitbridge,” he said.
“ZIMRA just doesn’t have the capacity to process everyone timely.”
Another motorist, who arrived at 11 AM and only received his permit after 7 PM, made serious allegations about the cause of the delays.
“What I observed is that ZIMRA tellers are deliberately slowing the process to cause confusion,” he claimed.
“You have runners who appear to be working in collaboration with the ZIMRA officers jumping the queue after they take money from desperate drivers.”
Touts were seen capitalizing on the chaos, allegedly facilitating queue-jumping for a fee in what drivers described as a coordinated arrangement with some officers.
In response to the allegations, ZIMRA told Zim GBC News that it “enforces zero tolerance to bribery and corruption” and urged the public to report any illicit activities.
Drivers argue a simple solution exists.
“The delays could be avoided if ZIMRA accepts payment online for TIPs, leaving only the printing and stamping to be done at the border,” one suggested.
The logjam is part of an annual festive crush. Last December, over 645,000 people moved through Beitbridge. Zimbabwean authorities are currently processing about 13,000 travellers daily, with numbers expected to peak sharply just before Christmas Day, signalling further potential for disruption.
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