Plans to create a one-stop border post between South Africa and Mozambique will advance with the opening of a single border post dedicated to the bus and taxi industry, Business Day newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Chief executive of the Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative
(MCLI) Brenda Horne said the building of the single border facility for the passenger transport industry was complete and due to open imminently.
The facility will allow passengers to be processed by South African and Mozambique authorities at the same time, using a common system, saving time and costs.
This follows the opening of a similar facility for the logistics industry earlier this year.
Horne said that a recent informal survey, using satellite- tracking devices on trucks, showed that drivers from South Africa were able to cross into Mozambique, drive to the Port of Maputo, unload and return to the border in a little more than five hours.
“This is a huge improvement on the 10 hours it used to take and has gone a long way to clearing up the congestion at the Lebombo border post.
“Once the bus and taxi facility is open, the main border post will just have to deal with normal road and tourist traffic,” she said.
The corridor is increasingly being used by South African businesses to ship goods through the Port of Maputo and is being held up as a prime example of how infrastructure can be efficiently used to the benefit of the entire region.