Paul Nyathi

The South African goverment has turned down a move by Zimbabwean government to send a delegation of Ministers to intervene in the chaos at the Beitbridge Border Post.

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi turned down the request indicating that the South African government was happy with the measures they are putting in place at the border.

Motsoaledi told Zimbabwe to instead work on its economy to reduce the number of Zimbabweans crossing into South Africa.

Government spokesperson, Nick Mangwana Tuesday announced that the government was intending to intervene to ease the chaos at the Border, which has seen long traffic jams being reported in Limpopo, between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Several passengers have reported that they have been queueing for more than three days.

Mangwana said the Zimbabwean government was working at persuading the South African government to review the border closing time of 2200hrs to allow free flow of traffic.

“We have been made aware of the situation at Beitbridge Border Post. Whilst the bottleneck is not on the Zimbabwean side, efforts are in motion to arrive at a solution that works for both sides of the border, that includes a possible review of the 2200 hours closure of the Border,” he posted on Twitter.

While the post is usually busy over the festive season, additional delays were caused by earlier curfew times. Furthermore, travellers must be cleared under strict COVID-19 protocols.