DURBAN - THE Cross Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA) says it is working with the Mozambican authorities to deal with delays at the Lebombo Border post.
Last week The Mercury reported that the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) and the Minerals Council of South Africa (Minerals Council) had raised concerns about the severe congestion at the Lebombo/ Ressano Garcia border post on the Maputo Corridor between South Africa and Mozambique.
The two organisations had said that congestion at the Maputo Corridor had cost trucking companies R1.3bn in lost revenue so far this year.
Mmenyane Seoposengwe from the C-BRTA said yesterday that it was working with its counterparts in Mozambique to resolve the situation.
The interstate operations agency was formed to reduce mobility constraints for road transport operators.
“We are aware and equally concerned about the delays at the border. The C-BRTA’s role at the border is to ensure compliance on cross-border transport operations, and the validity of permits. Furthermore, we are working diligently with our counterparts in Mozambique through continuous engagements on the current situation at the Lebombo border. However, Mozambique is a sovereign state and the nature of our business does not allow us to interfere with matters of sovereign states.”
Mike Schüssler, an economist at Economists.co.za said the impact on the economy due to the congestion at the border post was frightening.
“Hundreds of millions of rand are lost due to delays at the Lebombo border post, and this is direct costs. Indirect costs include deliveries not arriving on time and a huge hit on our transport industry. This results in a negative impact on our investment climate in South Africa as other countries will feel that deliveries will not arrive on time due to delays at the border crossing.”
Schüssler added that some investors might be less inclined to invest until they were sure there was a 24-hour border crossing at the Lebombo/Ressano Garcia border post.
“I’ve been speaking to people, and some of them say that they are already looking for alternate forms of transport due to border post delays. A concern is that when there are delays goods can’t be transported, which incurs other costs and means that owners can’t transport good as cheaply as they should.”
Schüssler said the knock-on effect would be felt by all consumers.
“We must remember with these delays at the Lebombo Border Post there is an impact on job creation, money in the form of taxes is being lost and there are people who are affected in the form of wages.”
Gavin Kelly, the CEO of the Road Freight Association, said that the systems on the South African side were not aligned with systems on the Mozambique side.
“The Mozambicans have instituted a toll that drivers have to get out and pay, which is a manual toll to go into Mozambique that slows down the vehicles. We are trying to get that resolved.”
THE MERCURY