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- Government has called on the private sector to help upgrade South Africa's ports of entry.
- Six land ports have been identified by government to be upgraded, with Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaeledi saying SA's side of the border often looks a lot worse than its neighbours.
- These land ports are in a dire state and are stifling increasing volumes of trade.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
Government is looking to the private sector to assist in upgrading South Africa's land ports with neighbouring countries.
The upgrades will assist in improving regional trade between the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), stop the illegal movement of goods and people, and assist in effective migration between the countries, according to the Department of Home Affairs.
South Africa has 72 ports of entry, of which 53 are land ports of entry, 11 are international airports and eight are sea ports.
The ports are managed and controlled by the Border Management Authority.
On Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced that six land ports of entry had been identified for infrastructure and security upgrades.
These include Beitbridge linking SA to Zimbabwe, the Lembombo border post between SA and Mozambique, Maseru Bridge between SA and Lesotho, Ficksburg between SA and Lesotho, Kopfontein between South Africa and Botswana, and Oshoek between SA and Eswatini.
The project has been announced as a private-public partnership (PPP) and is subject to approval from National Treasury.
According to Motsoaledi, South Africa's land ports of entry are in a dire state with increasing volumes of regional and international trade at these ports being "stifled", leading to congestion.
READ | SA roads are vanishing as trucks run riot
He said:
He said government is looking to improve the security of land ports to ensure that illegal trade is also limited.
"Our [current] method of managing trucks is via sampling where trucks are selected on the basis of risk profile. We are looking for a prospective company to install the latest technology including gamma ray technology to pick up illegal cigaretters, paper money and [undocumented] human beings."
$1 million (more than R19 million) has been allocated from the SADC project preparation fund at the Development Bank of South Africa for the upgrades, with the project estimated to cost billions of rands.
The tender application process will close in March 2024, with the project coming to a financial close late next year. Construction on the upgrades will begin thereafter.
