Friday 19 January 2018

BEITBRIDGE - ECOCASH NOW ACCEPTED

Econet's mobile money transfer service.

Recently we noticed that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has put up signs indicating that they finally are accepting mobile money transferes to pay duty and other obligations. (Of course Econet terms and Conditions apply).

The questions that has been on our minds was why it took them so long to adopt this method of payment when Zimbabwe as a nation is struggling with a cash crisis and almost everything is paid for using plastic money.

We haven't seen the official announcement other than a statement in the 2018 National Budget Proposals where the finance minister stated that government departments would start accepting mobile money as a form of payment.

So far we have noticed that its only Ecocash that is being accepted,we do not know when the other mobile money transfer platforms will join in.

At Beitbridge there is still the issue of so many monies being paid to so many different government departments whose payments systems differ as much as the departments even though they are all collecting money for government.

Zimbabwe banks right now are sometimes giving depositors money in coin form yet Zimra and most government departments do not accept payments in coin form.

The Vehicle Inspection Department and Immigration do not accept payment in Bond notes, only cash USD and/or Rand whose exchange rates are around R15 to USD1.00. They insist on getting paid in foreign currency. Which in this case is cash United StatesDollar or South African Rand.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police Post at the border now accepts payment in Bond Notes but their rate of exchange if one is paying in South African Rand is around R14 to USD1.00. We understand sometime back they used to refuse payment of fines in Bond notes and insisted in fines being paid in USD cash or South African Rand only.  


The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has for some time now been accepting duty payments from bank card holders for quite some (which now is almost the form of payments for most duties), this has made life easy for the importing community. We have however noticed the Revenue Authority faces constant system challenges making the whole revenue collection system unreliable and difficult to work with. We hope as promised by the authorities the system will be running with little or few  outages in the near future.

Its our hope that with the re-alignment of government institutions at the border it will be easy for travellers to pay for the numerous government dues in time and with little difficulty and give them time to do what they love most - travelling.

  




Thursday 18 January 2018

BEITBRIDGE PUBLICITY


We seem to be the only voice talking about Beitbridge. Maybe so because the name to many is associated with problems, difficulties, pain and most of all its actually a mystery except to those working there.

Having worked at the border for the past decade, we have seen the best as well as the worst and yes we have seen travellers who have vowed never to come through this place ever again.

What is it with Beitbridge that makes it so unique.

Distance from major town:
Harare - 585km
Bulawayo - 321km
Johannesburg - 463km
Pretoria - 463km
Louis Trichardt - 120km.

The above mentioned makes Beitbridge a remote place. So if one forgets something home, then one is looking at at least three to four hours' drive or if its public transport, then its a whole day or night.

The place is generally a very place with average temperatures around 38Degrees Celsius making it a very uncomfortable place to be.

One thing we noticed with Beitbridge, information is scarce and in cases incorrect. Getting a correct and working telephone line is an issue in some cases.

Official information channels are not many.

The Zimbabwe side of the border has lately embarked on a massive signage of the border post and its better now compared to previous years.


Knowing when best to get to the border, what to bring and most of all getting served in time is the secret to enjoying crossing the border.

At Beitbridge, information is power and once you know what to do, when to do it and how to do it then your crossing the border either way is made enjoyable.

Get in touch on our whatsapp number and we can give you an update of the situation at the border.

Happy travelling.




Sunday 14 January 2018

BORDER UPDATE: 14 JANUARY 2017

(File Picture)

This weekend ending today marks the last of the long end of year break for many SA based travellers who are making a last minute rush back to South Africa.

Surprisingly for this time of the year, Beitbridge has not been that busy though we expect the number of southbound buses to increase significantly overnight.

Private travellers seem to have heeded the call to travel earlier and we are seeing motorists getting here around 1400hrs and this has eased the crossing procedure as work is spread throughout the day and when the buses eventually arrive they are attended to in time.

(File Picture)

We know the southbound crusade starts congestion from the border and it gathers momentum with holiday makers from Limpopo province of South Africa and by the time one reaches Polokwane, driving will be torturous as at every toll gate there is heavy congestion and delays.

We would like to wish those still on the road safe arrival and please be patient with fellow road users as you drive back from the holidays.

Happy driving.

Friday 12 January 2018

MUSINA HORRIFIC ACCIDENT

The Toyota Fortuner. Two occupants died.
The accident happened between an Iveco minibus and a Toyota Fortuner at the first bridge near Sasol Garage on the way to Louis Trichardt from Musina.

Details are still coming in.

N1 is closed temporarily whilst Emergency Services personnel are clearing the scene.

The driver of the Iveco minibus survived with injuries.
The Iveco minibus did not have any passengers on board.

We are urging drivers to exercise caution on the road.

Thursday 11 January 2018

BEITBRIDGE CONTACTS.

Contact details

There is something mysterious about Beitbridge, its so hard to contact any institution, and we as Crossing Beitbridge have been receiving enquiries on contact numbers for major stakeholders like Immigration, Revenue Authorities and other several departments represented at the border.

We managed to get some, and if you have any that you know, please send the contacts to us.

Zimbabwe Immigration
00 263 8523 22368
00 263 8523 22527
00 263 8523 22506
00 263 8523 22024

Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Switchboard
00 263 8523 22429
00 263 8523 22362
00 263 8523 22536
00 263 8523 22366
00 263 8523 22303

Shift Managers
Mr. S. Mpofu 00 263 712 624 304

Mr. P. Mutembo 00 263 712 618 858

Mr. J. Chakasikwa 00 263 712 624 226

Mrs. S. Zengeni 00 263 712 424 722

Enforcement Manager
Mr. S. Muremba 00 263 712 876 403

Zimra have on their website a list of contacts for all the border posts and offices throughout Zimbabwe.



Wednesday 10 January 2018

BEITBRIDGE - A REVIEW

                                           Image result for Beitbridge

In the past three weeks Beitbridge was the centre of focus as a lot of travellers went through it to or from South Africa.

People in Central and East Africa if travelling by road have to go through Beitbridge to get to South Africa, this has made the border post one of the busiest inland port in the region.

At its peak the border can process up to 25000 travellers a day, surely not a small task and in the handling of such large numbers of travellers, situations sometimes do get out of control resulting in congestion and  travellers getting stranded.

We know you may have gone through the border recently, what was your experience? Will you travel again through the border during holidays?

We have asked this questions before, what is to be blamed for the chaos you saw?

What is your advice for travellers planning to go through the border.

We wish you success as you start the new year.

Sunday 7 January 2018

BORDER UPDATES: SOUTHBOUND CONGESTION 07/01


The past twenty four hours have seen the shifting of the congestion from small cars to buses and trucks spending the best part of the day on traffic queue that is backing up some good two kilometres and which has hardly moved the whole day.

When we spoke to some drivers they were saying since joining the queue they had moved only twice the whole day. They are likely to sleep on the queue having moved about a kilometre in 12 hours.


The reason for the queue for the trucks getting stuck was that the Zimbabwe side is using the export route for trucks to park buses and since morning the area was full with buses resulting in the trucks not being able to pass through.

Small cars seem to have heeded our call for them to travel early and we saw the border getting busy in flash crowds but also quickly getting empty.


Most South African companies are opening for business tomorrow, that is why this weekend was so congested.

Compared with other years, this year seems well managed.

Happy travelling.