Import Restrictions Open New Business For Smugglers in Beitbridge

Published: 2016 August 09 05:56:22 (14053 Views)

SMUGGLING of commodities into the country has escalated following the implementation of Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 of 2016 with the Government losing millions of dollars every week in unpaid customs duty.

Rampant smuggling activities are taking place at illegal crossing points dotted along the Limpopo River.

Investigations revealed that the smuggling syndicates work in cahoots with villagers living along the border to smuggle a wide range of goods from South Africa. The racketeering takes place at night under the nose of security details patrolling the borderline.

Beitbridge Border Post contributes 70 percent of all the customs duty collected in Zimbabwe and 30 percent of the country’s source of revenue comes from customs duty.

At Nottingham Estate, about 40km west of the border town, the news crew from a local publication observed a one tonne truck being loaded with smuggled goods shortly after 8PM.

The goods, which were concealed under a consignment of oranges, included alcoholic beverages and boxes of cooking oil. The smugglers are taking advantage of the dry Limpopo riverbed to cross the border using 4×4 vehicles.

“I get a number of people who approach me every week so that I help them to identify illegal crossing points to smuggle their goods from South Africa and that is how I make a living. They usually bring 4×4 vehicles to cross the dry riverbed and the goods that are being smuggled range from small grocery items to television sets, refrigerators, couches,” said a villager who declined to reveal his identity.

Another villager from Malale, who only identified himself as Maanda, said some of the smugglers bribed both South African and local police and soldiers patrolling the border on either side to facilitate their illegal activities.

The smugglers risk being attacked and robbed by criminals operating along the corridor with an estimated 200 illegal crossing points along the Limpopo River.

Police patrolling the border revealed that hardly a week passes by without a smuggler or border jumper being reported to have been mugged or robbed by criminals.

The smuggling is fuelled by villagers who live within the border area.

“It doesn’t make sense for me to travel between 80km and 100km to Beitbridge Border Post to buy groceries when I can simply walk across the river for less than 10km and bring the items without the hassles of going through the rigorous customs and immigration processes,” said one villager.

Some of the homesteads at Dumba and Mawale villagers are being used as “warehouses” for smuggled goods. The goods are reportedly smuggled at night and temporarily kept at some homesteads as the owners monitored the situation.

A Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) official who requested anonymity admitted that smuggling syndicates were dodging the border. “It’s difficult to monitor smuggling because there are so many crossing points along the Limpopo River,” he said.

Beitbridge Border Post is the biggest port of entry in Sub-Saharan Africa linking Zimbabwe to South Africa.

- Chronicle

Tags: Import, border, ZIMRA, duty, Beitbridge, ,

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