THE Department of Immigration Services in Beitbridge, through its compliance and enforcement unit, nabbed 1 737 people for engaging in illegal activities along the Zimbabwe and South African border.
The move is meant to curtail criminal activities, such as border jumping, touting, the use of fake immigration stamps and fake travel documents which are common during peak periods such as the festive season.
The head of Immigration Services’ compliance and enforcement unit, Mrs Canisia Magaya, said they are working with other border agencies who are part of the enforcement committee to tackle criminality at the border post.
She said in the last 12 days, they rounded up 1 737 suspects.
“We are not relenting on our quest to maintain the safety and security of travellers. We want to ensure that there is a flawless flow of traffic this festive season,” said Mrs Magaya.
“Our enforcement and compliance unit is on the ground and we are working with other border agencies to fight crime. We arrested 1 737 suspects for engaging in criminal activities since the beginning of December.”
The arrested include 168 vendors, 301 touts, 1 258 for irregular migration and two for smuggling people.
Mrs Magaya said they are targeting criminal hotspots and areas and warned travellers to be wary of bogus clearing agents and border officials.
“We are saying those who are caught on the wrong side of the law will be dealt with accordingly. This ongoing crackdown operation will not give the criminals breathing space,” she said.
Border authorities are targeting travellers using the new freight terminal, the bus terminal, north and south entry gates and the sections of the light vehicle.
“At the same time, we want to discourage all travellers arriving at the border post to avoid using the services of touts and conmen who, in most cases, dupe them of their money by using unorthodox means to process their papers,” said Mrs Magaya.
She said authorities are determined to rid the border of illegal activities.
Mrs Magaya said they have opened more service points to assist in clearing travellers during the peak period.
She said although the volume of traffic has started increasing, border officials are managing the pressure with the movement of travellers and vehicles going on smoothly.
“We want to eliminate irregular migration and minimise incidents of genuine travellers falling prey to touts who masquerade as border officials,” said Mrs Magaya.
When the Chronicle news crew visited the border post on Wednesday, border officials with the assistance of law enforcement agents were busy conducting spot checks on buses and light vehicles.
The newly transformed border post has a capacity of handling at least 2 000 commercial trucks, 300 buses, 3 000 light motor vehicles and 25 000 ordinary travellers daily.
Beitbridge is one of the busiest border posts in Africa, which not only connects Zimbabwe and South Africa but also serves as the transit point for the majority of north-south trade in Southern Africa.
In August, President Mnangagwa commissioned some of the completed works under the US$300 million Beitbridge Border Post modernisation and upgrade project.
The massive project is one of the key economic and developmental initiatives being spearheaded by the Second Republic across the country, which have created employment for more than 1 500 locals in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
The modernisation of the Beitbridge Border Post is in line with Vision 2030, which seeks to attain an upper middle-income economy. The upgrading and modernisation of Beitbridge Border Post will also speed up the implementation of the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) concept between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Under the OSBP travellers and cargo will be cleared once for entry and exit in both countries.
It is one of the milestone projects being undertaken by the Second Republic to enhance the ease of doing business and trade facilitation for the whole region. – The Chronicle
