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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
South Africa’s parliament last week passed the Border Management Authority Bill which seeks to streamline operations at its ports of entry at the same time enhancing efficiency.

The development comes a few weeks after Pretoria undertook to modernise some of its ports of entry among them Beitbridge where the One-Stop-Border-Post (OSBP) concept is set to be jointly implemented with Zimbabwe. The streamlining operations at Beitbridge and upgrading infrastructure is one of the major ingredients to the successful implementation of the OSBP.

It is envisaged that under the model people and trucks will be processed by both countries under one roof. Currently, people and cargo have to duplicate processes to enter the ports of entries. An average of 14 000 people use the Beitbridge border post post daily.

In a statement South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said the BMA Bill was long overdue.

“I welcome the passing of the Bill by the National Assembly. The BMA will enable the country to manage its borders in a manner that facilitates trade and plugs holes in our porous borders. These porous borders lead to, amongst others, illegal crossing of people, illicit goods, drugs, trafficking of people, particularly of women and children, and stolen vehicles.”