Revealing Southern Africa’s cross-border transport realities

Cross-border freight in Southern Africa is constrained less by technology than by enforcement, duplicated inspections, corruption and harsh roadside realities. Digital systems alone cannot solve these issues for either transporters or drivers. MIKE FITZMAURICE unpacks the situation in each country.

Much of the current discussion about cross-border transport efficiency in Southern Africa centres on customs modernisation, Single Window Systems, One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs), Smart Borders and digitalisation. While these initiatives are important, they do not fully reflect the operational reality faced daily by transporters and drivers.

In this, my first article in a new series for FOCUS, I outline the daily experiences of cross-border operators travelling from SA to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), identifying law enforcement practices, duplicated controls and informal costs as some of the most significant non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to the seamless movement of freight.

Policy discussions on trade facilitation in Southern Africa are dominated by institutional reform. The assumption is that if systems are digitalised and borders modernised, transit will improve. However, for those operating on these corridors every day the primary impediment is often not technology, but rather human intervention. Specifically, this refers to the conduct of law enforcement agencies and the layering of controls that are not intelligence-led – adding time, cost and risk to every journey.

In South Africa, enforcement by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (CBRTA), provincial traffic authorities and municipal traffic police is widely perceived to be driven by ticket-issuing targets. This creates an environment in which trucks are stopped randomly while officers search for defects. In many instances, officers appear either to have a limited understanding of the National Road Traffic Act or to apply it selectively, creating opportunities to manipulate outcomes and solicit bribes from drivers and transporters.

There is also a critical gap in trade facilitation knowledge. Officers are generally not trained in container identification or International Organization for Standardization (ISO) container standards. One common misconception is that a container must have sides, a roof and doors.

The distinction between a standard container and a high-cube container is not always understood. Flat-rack and steel-frame containers are consequently misclassified as abnormal loads requiring abnormal-load permits. There is little consideration for the principle of seamless freight movement, or for the consequences when a truck is immobilised for days while a transporter contests a case in court.

Zimbabwe: border capacity exceeded; unnecessary duplication

On the Zimbabwean side of the border at Beitbridge, interventions imposed by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) have become excessive. These include the scanning of 100% of northbound freight and a high rate of physical inspections at the Container Depot (Condep), which does not have the capacity to handle current freight volumes efficiently. The cumulative delays resulting from these customs interventions significantly increase transit times and operating costs.

Within the country, anti-smuggling operations along transit routes through Zimbabwe are frequently not intelligence-led. Trucks are subjected to random stops and referrals to ZIMRA facilities in Masvingo, Harare and Bulawayo. These referrals often duplicate inspections conducted at Condep in Beitbridge only hours earlier, yet they can result in delays lasting several days.

The impact is compounded over long weekends, when trucks may be referred for inspection while ZIMRA officials are not available to attend to them promptly. Vehicles and drivers may thus be detained for the entire weekend.

ZAMBIA: ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN, DOUBLE TOLLING, TARGETED HARASSMENT

In Zambia, transporters are required to complete additional documentation for imports and transit movements. This must be presented at the border in hard copy, in addition to standard regional documentation.

The five-day transit period is rigidly enforced; no extensions are granted for mechanical breakdowns and transporters are penalised for each day beyond the five-day limit, regardless of the cause.

A significant additional NTB is the practice of double tolling. Transporters are subject to the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) road user charge of US$0.20 (about R3.30) multiplied by the distance travelled, as well as inland tolls of ZMW150 (about R130) per tollgate for heavy goods vehicles. RTSA road user charges are not uniform for all foreign-registered vehicles; Tanzanian-registered vehicles must pay a rate of US$18 (about R295) per 100km travelled, which is not in line with the COMESA-recommended tolling fee of US$10 (about R164) per 100km travelled.

Numerous council levy fees are also imposed throughout Zambia from entry to exit, adding further costs and delays.

Harassment of foreign-registered vehicles by law enforcement officers is common. The most frequent
pretexts include first-aid kits being deemed non-compliant, company addresses and contact details not being displayed on the side of the cab, mud flaps being deemed non-compliant and the required red reflective tape at the rear and white reflective tape at the front not being displayed. The harassment of drivers and transporters by law enforcement officers for the purposes of extortion remains rife.

The DRC: The harsh reality

Entry into the DRC represents the most challenging operational environment in the region. Transporters face exorbitant border-crossing fees, numerous official péages (tolls) and a proliferation of informal police checkpoints where cash payments are demanded without receipts. Informal community péages also operate, with individuals threatening to stone trucks if drivers fail to stop and pay.

After stopping, drivers are frequently attacked, beaten and robbed of cash, mobile phones, personal belongings, groceries and cooking equipment. These criminal acts are sometimes perpetrated by individuals wearing police or military uniforms.

At the mines, trucks awaiting offloading are often held in informal truck parks without facilities or running water. Sanitation may consist of trenches dug in the bush.

From the moment of entry, a driver will typically live in the cab of the truck for up to 30 days per trip – driving, eating and sleeping in the same confined space. Washing is limited to a cold-water bucket bath, while bottled water is required for brushing teeth. Toilets are frequently unavailable, leaving drivers to rely on roadside areas.

In the DRC, traffic enforcement does not always operate through a conventional system of fines; a driver accused of a traffic offence may face the risk of being physically removed from the vehicle and severely assaulted by police or military personnel.

Conclusion

These conditions cannot be fully understood through reports, workshops or short border visits. They can only be appreciated by working in the trenches with transporters and drivers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The TRANSIST Bureau deals with these issues daily and remains one of the few organisations able to intervene effectively at an operational level. 

Until enforcement is reformed, officials are professionalised in trade facilitation principles and informal costs are eradicated, digitalisation alone will not deliver seamless transit. This is the reality of cross-border transport in Southern Africa.