The South African Revenue Services (SARS) has introduced the continuous processing of traffic at the Beitbridge Border post in a bid to reduce the cost of cross-border trade by eliminating overnight waiting.
The move towards 24-hour operations was introduced on 31 May 2003 and followed consultations with industry players, chief amongst them the Road Freight Association, which have been asking for continuous processing at the border for some time now.
The down-time costs during February 2003, when a bottleneck occurred, are said to have run into tens of millions of Rands. The 24-hour processing move will effectively eliminate these down-time costs, estimated to be about R2000 a truck a night. Based on current volumes, this is a potential cost-saving to the regional economy of about R500-million a year.
The move also indicates the willingness of the SARS to work with stakeholders for the betterment of the regional economy.
The Beitbridge border post is a land conduit to many countries to the north of the Limpopo. It is a major regional trade route and the SARS is committed to facilitating trade while protecting the country's economy through enforcement strategies.
ISSUED BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN REVENUE SERVICE
PRETORIA