JOHANNESBURG – Parliament’s portfolio committee on Home Affairs has called for urgent intervention at the Beitbridge border post.

There have been concerns raised over the large number of travellers at the border into Zimbabwe.

This comes as South Africa battles to curb the spread of COVID-19 amid a second wave.

The congestion at the Beitbridge border post during the festive season is nothing new.

But this is no normal year-end.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, travellers have to produce a negative test not older than 72 hours before being allowed to cross the border.

But enforcing this is likely to be difficult as the queues at the border post see many camping out there before crossing into Zimbabwe.

There are concerns that the travellers passing through Beitbridge – some of whom started their journey in the Western Cape – may have their certificates expire before they cross the border.

Chairperson of the parliamentary committee, Bongani Bongo, said that while they understood the need to travel past borders for trade, strategies should have been put in place to mitigate this.

-EWN