By A Correspondent| South Africa is planning to re-open its land borders on January 15 with plans in place to avoid a repeat of the December congestion, the Border Management Agency (BMA) told the Home Affairs Portfolio Committee of the South African parliament on Tuesday.

According to BMA, the measures will include limiting the number of haulage trucks in the exit queue at any given time, deploying additional healthcare workers, and a ticket system for rapid Covid-19 tests.

“We’re going to keep the queue (for trucks) on the N1 at 700 meters,” BMA commissioner Gene Ravele told MPs.

“If the queue becomes more than 700 meters, we will divert trucks to truck stops.”

He said the BMA had engaged trucking associations to ensure compliance.

Additional holding areas provided by the Musina Local Municipality in December will be used to accommodate any overflow from the truck stop nearest to Beitbridge border post.