South Africa to enlist private firms to ease border congestion

South Africa’s government has requested proposals from private companies to help it upgrade its six busiest land border posts and ease congestion.

Trucks and commuters can wait days or even weeks to cross into or out of South Africa, and flows are expected to increase following the conclusion of an agreement to establish a continent-wide free trade area. 

“Our land ports of entry are very congested and that continues to stifle trade instead of enabling it,” Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told reporters in Pretoria on Wednesday. The government “is essentially looking for a partnership between the state and the private sector to inject cutting edge infrastructure and technology in our ports,” he said.

Upgrades at the main border crossing with Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini, will create more than 38,000 jobs during the construction phase, Motsoaledi said.