The morass that is the Beitbridge Border post
May 11th, 2009
This blog is a tourist’s perspective on their recent visit to Zimbabwe. Their family travelled by car and entered the country through the Beitbridge Border – between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
With the new Unity Government in place, one would think that moves would point towards re-establishing Zimbabwe’s once wonderful tourism industry. Since the Land Reform programme in 2000, tourism in Zimbabwe has steadily declined reaching an all time low in December 2008. After rising during the 1990s, with 1.4 million tourists in 1999, industry figures described a 75% fall in visitors to Zimbabwe in by December 2008.
Upon careful consultation with friends from Zimbabwe however, we decided to brave a visit by road. Assurance that fuel is now available at some garages were indeed true. The hotels and National Parks Camps were welcoming if stretched and tatty , the costs were high compared to those in South Africa and food was a lot more expensive.
We would love to travel to Zimbabwe again one day with our family but we made a vow that we would never ever attempt to cross into Zimbabwe at the Beitbridge Border post !
As a first entry point to your country, the Border Post was a disgusting mess, mounds of trash piled everywhere, rocks, stones, great piles of rubble, no signs, no direction, just an unenthusiastic group of uncivil servants waiting for their shift to change.
One would imagine that a Thursday afternoon at Beitbridge Border Post, nowhere near a public holiday, nowhere near the end of the month, that the traffic would not be too bad.
The toll payment was not too unpleasant, the road tax (for the pleasure of driving through the potholes) was not too undisciplined although there was no change anywhere so you just had to forfeit anything owing to you , the passports were stamped with alacrity, but the customs system is a debacle, an absolute debacle.
There were four lines of vehicles, piled high with commercial goods, intent upon passing through the single lane green route, three queues converging on single lane red route. There was no place to move forwards, backwards or to park .
It was complete and utter chaos, pity us poor tourists coming to spend an honest dollar or two in the country, as no sane tourist would ever, ever undertake this horrific experience more than once.
With the temperature at 35 degrees celsius, and a quagmire of vehicles hopelessly gridlocked, trying to literally force their way through customs, touts were yelling, vehicles were bumper to bumper to stop queue jumpers, the fuel emissions were horrendous as the hot tempered border crossers tried to cool down.
It was literally a festering, seething ugly mass of humanity and very frightening to a tourist who does not have a clue where to go and what to do next to get through from S.A. into Zimbabwe.
We sat for three hours in the baking sun in the car, our line of cars did not move an inch, there was no where to buy cold drinks.
The only form of sustenance we saw was an enterprising young man who passed by the window carrying a cardboard tray of hard boiled eggs, and tantalisingly displayed on the same tray was an array of condiments like, salt, pepper, aromat and chili powder !!
When we finally forced our way, inch by inch, to the final customs point, we were harassed and berated, searched and abused. Our Gauteng vehicle registration plate seemed to inspire nothing but wrath in everybody, and our woes were still not at an end.
At every road block around the country we were pulled over by police, some in uniform, some in civilian clothes, and again subjected to unnecessary and unnerving questioning. Our little girls were becoming more and more traumatized as the journey progressed.
A visit to Zim again ? Not bloody likely !!
May 12th, 2009 13:14
What a disgraceful article. People are dying of cholera, 70% of the population are unemployed, and almost as many on food aid, and this person wants to visit as a tourist – do they want to photograph people suffering so they can show the pics to their friends over dinner. These so called tourists would be better served donating their “holiday” money to a charity so that people in Zim can at least buy maize
Tamba
May 12th, 2009 16:57
That’s sad, I heard Zimbabwe was a beautiful country !
Nice blog, btw
May 13th, 2009 12:49
As a woman married to a Zimbabwean man I ofen travel to Zimbabwe and would like to concur on the atrocious situation at Beit Bridge. As a foreigner you are often left at a loss as to which queue exactly you should be in as instructions are often shared in Shona, there are no signs to guide or the ones posted at the stalls are actually not always correct. The civil servants are not as helpful as they can be and there is such chaos at that border spending a few hours with no progress is the norm.
Two weeks ago a family friend returning to Zimbabwe by bus got to the Zim side of the boarder just after midnight and at 10h00 the bus was still there.
When driving in the country you are stoped at every road block you come across and are often asked for a lot of insurance papers (even those that do not exist) as a means to get a bribe from you, the last road block I experianced was literally 100m from the border when I was returning home and once they realised I had all papers another fake one was requested (it was establisehed as fake once I asked officials at the boarder).
Basically I have decreased my trips there as travelling by road is the worst experiance anyone can go through and I will only fly in when absolutely necessary.
May 15th, 2009 02:33
@Tamba Gadzekwe –
Ah, Tamba, you have “Presidential Qualities” written all over you.
With a few more visionaries like you at the helm, this country’s economy would surely be back on its feet in no time.
Here’s another anti-poverty strategy you could try – just add a few zeroes to the currency, and we’ll all be out of poverty and living like millionaires overnight! (or did some other economic genius already try that one?)
PS – ever heard the saying “People get the government they deserve”?
May 16th, 2009 17:21
@Tamba Gadzekwe -
Ah Tamba, just as Graham says! You have a primitive point of view at best.
After tobacco and a couple of other goodies trashed by the governance of Zim., tourism was right up there too. Tourism – as you obviously don’t know – is where foreigners choose to visit (& spend their real currencies) at some destination. That for the country being visited means in-flows of real money. But the operative word is “choose”.
They can quite easily “choose” to spend their money elsewhere – and since there are probably quite a few people as ill-informed and naive as yourself in Zim., I would suggest they do indeed go elsewhere.
Don’t forget – Beit Bridge is like an ambassador. It reflects to anyone arriving what can expected to be found further into Zim. So, from Beit Bridge a tourist can realistically deduce they will encounter chaos, debauchery, nepotism, theft and solicitation. Am I wrong?
May 16th, 2009 19:23
@Graham (the original) –
So Graham, does tourism come before food aid. Tourism will ensure that the greenback is the only accepted currency, but people in the villages have no access to hard currency to buy the food, which is why, along with the suicidal policies of the government, means so many people are on food aid. Now is not the time for tourism,or bitching about the conditions at a border post of a country on the brink of collapse. Ban the tourists, bring in the UN
May 18th, 2009 05:28
@Michael 1 –
Michael, surely you aren’t so out of touch that you don’t know that western food aid is all that has kept Zim’s population going for the last 6 months? How much longer do you want this country to survive on handouts alone before someone starts fixing the economy, an important part of which, especially in rural areas, is tourism.
Let’s not fall into the old-fashioned mistake of thinking that there is only one issue to deal with at this time. In Zim it’s not a question of only ‘this’ or only ‘that’ – Zimababwe needs both food aid and getting people into productive employment right now.
And while I wasn’t the one ‘bitching’ about the border post, don’t forget that most people coming through the border are Zimbaweans. Why should they have to accept sub-standard services and treatment at their own border. Why should Africa accept shoddy work ethics and public services as ‘normal’?