'The numbers are overwhelming': Over 30,000 travellers crossed into Mozambique within 24 hours
Holidaymakers and Mozambican nationals queue at the Lebombo Border Post on Christmas eve as festive season travel to Mozambique peaked, with more than 30,000 people processed in 24 hours by the Border Management Authority.
Image: Screengrab/ SABC News
The Border Management Authority (BMA) has processed more than 30,000 people travelling to neighbouring Mozambique in the past 24 hours, underscoring peak festive-season travel during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
On Christmas Day, BMA Commissioner Michael Masiapato was leading operations at the Lebombo Border Post, where thousands of travellers continued to stream through the port en route to Mozambique.
Beyond being home to many Mozambican nationals returning for the festive season, Mozambique remains a major drawcard for South African holidaymakers. Its warm Indian Ocean waters, palm-lined beaches, fresh seafood cuisine and relatively affordable coastal resorts continue to attract thousands of travellers seeking a quieter alternative to South Africa’s often crowded holiday destinations.
Commissioner of the Border Management Authority, Dr Michael Masiapato.
Image: Supplied/ BMA
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika on Thursday morning, Masiapato said travel volumes reached an overwhelming peak on Christmas Eve.
“In terms of the current infrastructure, in terms of the current capacity from a staff point of view, and the rest of the working tools of trade, the reality is the people that are coming here at Lebombo are a lot.
“Just in the past 24 hours, we have been able to process over 30,152 individuals. There is no other land port that has ever reached that number. That is the number that is mostly counted at places like OR Tambo International Airport. But we have reached it here. That is a demonstration.
“We had thought that at least by today (Christmas Day), everybody will be gone. Indeed all those that were here yesterday are gone. All these people you see here arrived this morning and we are busy processing them. It doesn’t even look like the people are stopping in terms of coming through. That is the reality,” he said.
Masiapato said plans are on the table to ensure more seamless cross-border travel in future, including redesigning the busy port of entry with dedicated lanes for pedestrians, small vehicles, taxis and heavy vehicles.
Under the proposed plans, some travellers would be processed while remaining inside their vehicles, instead of disembarking to deal with border processes — a change aimed at easing congestion at the port.
Masiapato dismissed criticism that the Border Management Authority was unprepared for the surge in travellers, but conceded that officials had been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people crossing the border.
“I think when we talk about being overwhelmed, I would say that is the real concept. We are overwhelmed in the context of the numbers of the people that are here. When we aggregate the number of the people that we have processed, just from 10 December to today — which is something like a week — we are talking almost 350,000 people that we have processed just in one port.
“That is a demonstration of the numbers that we are dealing with. We planned for the influx, we know that last year, there was a protest in Mozambique, and most people did not go home, but this time around, people are going home in numbers. This is the reality that we have to be dealing with, hence I am saying it is not about us being unable to process, we continue to process, but the numbers are very significant,” he said.
jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za
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