By Rex Mphisa
ZIMBABWE is set to lose more traffic to Botswana which is planning to, jointly with South Africa, build a bigger and better port between the two countries to facilitate haulage trucks running away from high tarrifs at the country’s side of Beitbridge border post.
The planned border will replace Groblersbrug currently under strain from traffic avoiding Zimbabwe.
This will translate to more shipping job losses at Beitbridge and in Zimbabwe in general, from the downstream commercial effects of transit traffic.
The plans for a new port between the are being discussed by the two countries departments of Transport, according to a report by SA’s Business Report and Freight News South Africa.
The need of the new border has, among other influencers, been triggered by flooding at Groblersbrug and the demand for industrial implements in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia’s Copperbelt.
“The bottlenecks, heightened by a spike in demand for acid at mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia, have resulted in an increase of dangerous cargo hauliers heading to the border,” said Business Report.
“The Department of Transport in South Africa and its Botswana counterparts are in ongoing discussions to relocate the Groblersbrug border post following sustained bottlenecks as cargo volumes previously routed through the Beitbridge border with Zimbabwe now use the exit point to avoid extra charges on the Zimbabwean side,” it said.
It said DRC and Zambia were importing large volumes of chemicals needed for their growing mineral industries and trucks avoiding Beitbridge increased at Groblersbrug.
Transport operators are of the view Groblersbrug does not have capacity to cope with sudden spikes in truck traffic, which has become the norm because of cross-border transporters preferring to avoid the North-South route through Zimbabwe.
This included trucks carrying general cargo, refrigerated goods, break bulk and hazardous chemicals, all heading to the Copperbelt arriving at the border at a rate exceeding the capacity of authorities to control the queue.
SA’s Border Management Authority (BMA) in early December 2025 announced they would extend operating hours at various land borders to accommodate tourism, among other things.
Business Report quoted SA’s Department of Transport as having confirmed through the Cross Border Road Agency (C-BRTA) there has been a shift in freight traffic volumes from Beitbridge to Groblersbrug, and this is partly caused by the introduction of extra charges at Beitbridge, on the Zimbabwe side.
It quoted the department spokesperson, Amanda Hlahleni, on Monday saying the shift had caused a significant traffic increase at Groblersbrug, which is now being increasingly used as a transit port to the rest of the region.
Hlahleni said from an infrastructure perspective, Groblersbrug was challenged not having been designed for huge volumes of traffic.
It has a single-lane bridge that accommodates minimal flows of traffic across the border.
She said the infrastructure issue remains the biggest challenge that leads to congestion and delays at the port, and if there are heavy rains, the port often floods, which then compels the border to be closed for weeks.
As a result, traffic usually gets diverted to alternative ports like Kopfontein, Skilpadshek, and Ramatlabama, she is quoted as having said.
“This is a challenge that the country is grappling with, and efforts are being made to explore solutions like infrastructure upgrades to the port,” Hlahleni said.
“The Republic of South Africa, through the Department of Transport, has been in discussions with the Botswana counterparts, under the leadership of the two honourable ministers, to explore a long-lasting solution to this challenge, and that includes exploring the relocation of the port. Discussions are ongoing.”
Business Report said stakeholders, the Transit Atlantic Bureau and the Trans-Africa Border Hub, have suggested that the border’s hours should be constantly running on a 24-hour basis.
Business report quoted Trans Atlantic Bureau’s Mike Fitzmaurice: “They should know by now how busy the border gets during this time of year, and should have Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in place. Yet every year it becomes apparent how the lack of SOPs at this border causes congestion,” he said.
Suggestions to have more personnel to be deployed on a consistent basis to assist with truck management and precleared cargo compliance were made.
But the development was met with frowns at Beitbridge where some residents development that impoverishes communities was retrogressive.
The Beitbridge Broder Post was upgraded by Zimborders, a consortium that won a public-private partnership (PPP) contract to modernize and manage the facility.
The deal is under a Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) model for a long-term concession.
Zimborders designed, financed, built, and now operate the upgraded facility, which includes separated traffic streams (freight, buses, light vehicles) and modern IT, aiming to boost efficiency, revenue, and regional trade by relieving congestion.
The project also involved infrastructure development in Beitbridge town, like housing, water, and sanitation.
Transporters and other stakeholders have however appealed for reduced tariffs which are yet to be considered.
The stakeholders believe the facility will see Beitbridge become a white elephant.