Around 25,000 travellers entering South Africa were processed by the Border Management Authority (BMA) at the busy Beitbridge border post on Monday.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday, BMA Commissioner Dr Michael Masiapato said the number of travellers being processed at the border could exceed the more than 400,000 people who exited the country during the festive season.
“We started our operation from 1 January and we will continue until the 15th. This is what we describe as the return leg in as far as the implementation of our plan is concerned. In terms of the numbers in port, we are indeed doing the work in terms of processing the people.
“Just in the past 24 hours, we have been able to do just around 25,000 individuals that were processed into the country. On that basis, we can indicate that if you look at the numbers that we exited, which was just below 400,000, we are definitely ultimately going to retain almost the same kind of number or even more as we go towards 15 January.
“That is how things are going and indeed the volumes are very much hectic,” said Masiapato.
By midday on Monday, Masiapato said the number of travellers had already peaked for the day and could reach levels seen during the weekend rush.
“We are just counting the buses that are coming over. We have already processed over 30 buses since this morning. The others are actually still on the way. We keep on talking to the Zimbabwean side and they indicate the buses that are coming through.
“For now, on the queue on the Zimbabwean side we have been able to count around 15 buses that are still on the way to our side. Once they arrive here, we will definitely be able to process them. In terms of the numbers at this point, which is like midday, we are looking at around 15,000 or so (people) that have already been processed up to this point. We do the aggregated numbers over 24 hours, and we will give the proper statistics tomorrow.
“We had thought that since it was busy yesterday (Sunday) and the previous day, on Monday we would be slowing down, but we see that the numbers still keep coming. The buses keep on coming, and the pedestrians also keep on coming. It looks like we might end up back to equating the number with an average, which is around 25,000,” he said.
The latest figures follow a hectic weekend at Beitbridge, where the BMA processed about 100 buses and more than 22,000 people on Sunday alone — which was at the time the highest daily volume recorded so far during the post-festive travel period.
The border post, one of the busiest in Africa, services thousands of Zimbabwean and Malawian nationals who live and work in South Africa. Some South African nationals also travel to Zimbabwe and Malawi due to family connections and holidays.
Large queues were recorded in late December as migrant communities returned home for the festive season, with the current surge driven by travellers heading back into South Africa.
Earlier this week, the BMA warned travellers against bringing prohibited items, such as agricultural products and unauthorised medicines, into South Africa. The BMA stated that fruits, including mangoes and watermelons, as well as skin-lightening creams, were being confiscated and destroyed at border posts to protect biosecurity and public health.
News
