By Paul Nyathi | Thousands of cross border travellers between South Africa and Zimbabwe using the Beitbridge border post are certainly set to celebrate much of their Christmas at the port of entry.

Border control officials on both sides of the borders especially those handling travellers coming into Zimbabwe are failing to cope with the huge number of travellers who are reaching to tens of thousands.

As at sunset on Sunday it was taking up to twelve hours for a single vehicle to pass through the two border posts.

Bekithemba Zulu a traveller from Johannesburg travelling to Bulawayo told ZimEye.com that he took exactly eleven hours to get through the two border posts due to the long queues at the border posts.

“I got to the border at about 6am thinking that the border would be clearer in the early hours of the morning but it took me exactly 11 hours to get through the two borders,” he said.

Vehicles waiting to get through tge two borders stretched for about ten kilometres back into South Africa on the South African side of the border.

Vehicles intending to cross out of Zimbabwe into South Africa also stretched about 5 kilometres backwards into Beitbridge town in Zimbabwe.

South Africa is host to close to One Million Zimbabweans who are in that country as economic refugees.

A number of them make their way to Zimbabwe for Christmas Holidays to visit their families and a vice versa visit South Africa to spend holiday with their loved ones who may have failed to make it home.

Watch video of vehicles waiting to get through the border on the South African side of the border.