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The DA calls on the Departments of Home Affairs and International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to urgently intervene in the humanitarian crisis developing at the Lebombo border post with Mozambique.

Trucks have been forced to wait in lines as long as 15 km for more than 3 days while struggling to cross the border. Not only has this reportedly cost the economy an estimated R30.5 billion in undelivered coal, iron ore and chrome ore alone, it has also put the lives of the truck drivers at risk.

According to Rapport, due to budget restraints the Mpumalanga provincial government has stopped law enforcement between 22:00 and 06:00 when the border post is closed. There are reports of people being robbed at gun and knife point and women being raped. It is shocking that a border post so heavily trafficked would not be protected.

The truck drivers also don’t have access to the necessary food, water and sanitation facilities.

This trend is developing at all our border posts. It is shameful that no lessons seem to have been learned from similar situations during 2021. It is time that government realised the importance of border posts that function seamlessly. Trucks are the lifeblood of African economies, and they are especially important in South Africa where government corruption and ineptitude have allowed the railway system to become almost unusable.

Issued by DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs Angel Khanyile