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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE imminent reopening of the Beitbridge border post on October 1 to passenger traffic has created a lot of excitement in the border town especially for those building their homes.

The border has been open throughout the lockdown, but only for cargo traffic which brings little revenue to the town or to the local businesses, and makes shopping more expensive.

Most people in the border town rely on South African towns in Limpopo province, especially Musina and Makhado, for things like building materials because they are relatively cheaper there. Musina is 18km from Beitbridge while Makhado is 100km away.

In Zimbabwe, Beitbridge’s nearest big towns are Gwanda, Bulawayo and Masvingo located between 200km and 300km away.

A standard bag of cement costs R60 in South Africa and sells for nearly R160 by the time it reaches Beitbridge.

Additionally, roofing sheets are sold at R100 in Musina and cost R300 on the local market.

The town has an estimated population of 70 000 people and, before the lockdown, another 15 000 people were in transit daily. There are more than 14 000 properties in the town and estimated 6 000 houses under construction.

Both Zimbabwe and Zambia have announced that international passenger travel will resume next month for business and tourism-related trips, but with travellers having to comply with listed Covid-19 management protocols.

As far as entry or re-entry into Zimbabwe is concerned, travellers will have to have a Covid-19 negative test result given less then 72 hours before crossing the border, otherwise they could be refused entry if one is a foreigner or required to go into compulsory quarantine if he or she is Zimbabwean.

Beitbridge Town Clerk, Mr Loud Ramakgapola welcomed the latest development last week and said the border was the heartbeat of the town. “When the border is operating at full strength, we (municipality) get reasonable revenue from buses which bring those people going to SA for shopping.

“People’s activity in the town drives the local economy. In addition, the availability of relatively cheaper goods and building materials sourced from South Africa drives construction in the town,” he said.