Dear Editor

Please help us expose the rot at Beitbridge Border post. My friend operates a Cross Border Parcel SA- Zim. He picks parcels from SA and delivers to Zimbabwe.

The problem is corruption at Beitbridge Border by all Zimbabwe Government Agency. Zimra, Immigration, VID, Police, Solders. All of them are corrupt.

The problem starts when you cross the Limpopo Bridge. The weighbridge where all trucks are weighed is under calibrated.

Imagine a truck passes 3 weighbridges on the SA side Joburg – Messina, and all weighbridges shows the truck is carrying a load inline with its GVM. On the Zimside, the weighbridge shows an overweight. No truck passes with out paying a fee of at least R500 or more.

The next point is Zimra Officials, Zimra encourages pre-email declaration of your duty before trucks arrives at the border. Once the truck arrives, a physical inspections is done and additional duty levied as per Zimra Officer inspections.

Before, last week an additional top up duty would be assessed and paid over to Zimra. This past week, Zimra started to impose a 100% fine on the additional assessed duty. For example, we say A has a assessed predeclared duty of ZIM$15 000 and on physical inspections the Zimra official determines an additional top up duty of ZIM$5000. Before this week A would be required to pay ZIM$5000+ ZIM$15000= ZIM$20000. Now after penalty charges A pays ZIM$15000 + Duty ZIM$5000 + Penalty ZIM$5000= ZIM$25000.

The question is why impose a penalty fine, when its Zimra who encourage pre-clearance ??? Is this legal, or its a mechanism by Zimra to meet its revenue targets by stealing from the public.

4. Imposition of fine has equiped Zimra with more ammunition to demand kickbacks corruptions. All trucks are now being punitively assessed, in a way to coerce people to pay bribes. There is a point called Towerlight, where every truck is expected to pay a bribe or your truck is clamped, threatened with goods seizure.

I CRY MY BELOVED COUNTRY. THINGS HAVE GONE TO THE DOGS.

Concerned Citizen