The Beit Bridge border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe has experienced an increase of immigrants entering the country since the start of the New Year. Many Zimbabweans had been trying to leave the country for South Africa before the implementation of a hard lockdown (which came into effect on Tuesday).
The high levels of traffic and congestion at the border post prompted the Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, to personally inspect the operations there. He identified undocumented immigrants and fraudulent Covid-19 certificates as the primary issues border officials experience.
Minister Motsoaledi stated that more than 500 illegal immigrants have been arrested daily. More law enforcement personnel were expected to arrive at the border, to counter unauthorized border crossings. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and South African Police Service (SAPS) will also deploy helicopters and boats to add additional surveillance capabilities in the area.
Immigrants arriving at the border with fraudulent Covid-19 tests and certificates have also been identified as a reason the processing of documents has caused delays and high levels of traffic. Minister Motsoaledi said that although these important traveling documents were found to be fraudulent by port officials, the immigrants were still allowed to enter South Africa. He stated that these transgressors were undermining the sovereignty of South Africa and disregarding the laws issued by the government.
With the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), an African trade agreement which came into operation on 1 January 2021, an increase of intra-African trade is expected in the upcoming years. In light of this, the South African government has announced a One-Stop-Border-Post (OSBP) policy. This policy will seek first and foremost to improve infrastructure at major border posts with neighbouring countries. Additionally, the OSBP will require migrants to be processed only once at the border post of the country they are entering. Although this solution would increase the chances of corruption, it will be implemented at the six busiest South African border posts.
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