South Africa’s northern supply chain border post with Botswana, Groblersbrug, was once more renowned for 4×4 excursions to exotic locations than for heavy cargo logistics.
However, it has recently become plagued by severe road freight congestion since the Department of Home Affairs implemented a biometric system designed to capture the data of pedestrians, travelers, and truck drivers.
While this initiative is part of the Border Management Authority’s (BMA) ongoing efforts to curb illegal entry into South Africa, it has resulted in traffic halting at the narrow bridge crossing.
Mike Fitzmaurice, chief of the Transit Assistance Bureau (Transist), explained to Freight News that the delays stem from insufficient border staff to capture the biometrics of individuals, a process that takes about 15 minutes per person.
He emphasized that the BMA, which oversees Home Affairs at the country’s borders, should have deployed more personnel to Groblersbrug to manage the increased traffic, particularly given the surge in cross-border freight flows due to congestion at the Beitbridge border into Zimbabwe.
A long-distance haulier of bulk liquids to the Copperbelt, who prefers routes through Botswana and Zambia, reported that public-sector officials are blaming transport and clearing agents for incomplete documentation when arriving at the border.
“Customs at all borders are just a broken record crying the same story every time they mess up,” he stated.
Video footage shared on Transist’s WhatsApp group shows trucks lined up along the road, with queues extending over two kilometers and not moving at all.
Drivers have resorted to parking and walking to passport control before returning to their trucks to proceed to the border.
This back-and-forth situation raises questions about why trucks carrying pre-cleared cargo are not prioritized for direct passage to the border.
Typically, such scenarios lead to finger-pointing, especially when it appears that relevant government agencies failed to consider the potential impact of a new system on traffic flow and whether existing resources could facilitate a smooth transition.
In response to inquiries in Parliament, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber stated that the BMA was making progress with measures aimed at safeguarding South Africa’s borders.
However, the long-term benefits of these measures must be weighed against the current short-term frustrations faced by the cross-border trade industry.
Botswana has weighed in on the situation at Groblersbrug, asserting that the problem does not lie on its side of the transit at the Martins Drift Border Post.
The Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) indicated that the delays at the formerly free-flowing border were caused by the South African Immigration Office’s introduction of a new passenger clearance system on October 3.
This change has led to longer processing times for traders and travelers, resulting in lengthy queues and significant delays.
BURS recommends utilizing alternative South African border posts—Tlokweng (Kopfontein), Ramatlabama, and Pioneer (Skilpadshek)—to avoid the current congestion at Groblersbrug.
While it acknowledged intermittent congestion at these alternative posts, BURS reported that traffic flow remains manageable.
BURS also expressed reservations about a wider rollout of South Africa’s biometric data-capturing system. “We anticipate that once the immigration system is implemented at these locations, we may also experience similar slow traffic, especially given the expected increase in trade,” they noted.
In the meantime, BURS is collaborating closely with its South African counterparts to normalize the situation at Groblersbrug.
