Times Of Swaziland: OSHOEK CUSTOM’S CLEARANCE TO BE REVIEWED

OSHOEK CUSTOM’S CLEARANCE TO BE REVIEWED
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Mhlengi Magongo on 24/03/2023 09:39:00


EZULWINI – Trucks importing goods to Eswatini from South Africa will no longer
be stuck at the Oshoek Border Gate after 5pm.
This was after the Republic of South Africa assured to review the custom
transaction time zones at the Oshoek Border Gate.Oshoek in Mpumalanga is the
main border post between South Africa and Eswatini and is currently operating 24
hours a day. However, trucks importing goods to Eswatini were facing a challenge
of time; after 5pm, the clearing agents at Oshoek would close their offices
while the Ngwenya border and its clearing agents remained operational.
This would cause kilometres of traffic on the Oshoek side of the border as
trucks would be forced to wait until the next morning to clear their goods. It
further affected the rate of efficiency of imports by creating a backload.The
above challenge was raised by Business Eswatini Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Nathi Dlamini, yesterday during the business breakfast meeting organised by the
South African High Commission, to promote trade and investment with local CEOs
at Royal Villas. The South African High Commissioner to Eswatini, Advocate Thoko
Sipamla, assured that the time zones would be reviewed since the border was the
second busiest in South Africa.
She stated that goods between the two countries totaled E21.732 billion for the
fiscal year 2021/2022, an increase of 16.6 per cent over the fiscal year
2020/21, and that it was the most important trade route.“Both the South
African and Eswatini economies are benefiting from growing trade between our two
countries; Eswatini is currently exporting almost 70 per cent of its goods and
services to South Africa,” she said. Sipamla added that for the 2021/22 fiscal
year, the country imported E23.676 billion, which reflects a total of 73.55 per
cent of its entire imports for the year an increase of 24.45 per cent over the
2020/21 financial year.
The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo, suggested that a
one-stop border post with Eswatini Revenue Services (ERS) and the South African
Revenue Services (SARS) work together. He said this would increase efficiency
and avoid the creation of backlogs. Khumalo also mentioned that both governments
must take real, practical steps to achieve a working partnership that would
stimulate investment, improve ease of doing business, break down trade barriers,
mobilise domestic resources and support their vision of boosting economic growth
through investment and trade.
Build
“We can build further on this shared agenda with an Eswatini-South Africa
Investment Summit, that can be hosted in both countries,” the minister
suggested.He further mentioned that this underscores the importance of a
strengthened trade mechanism between the two countries. Khumalo said both
governments needed to work together to ensure the seamless movement of goods and
services across the ports of entry, especially the Ngwenya/Oshoek Border Gates.
Standard Bank of Eswatini CEO Mvuselelo Fakudze added that security on routes
was also a challenge for some traders, especially at night. He said it was
important that the routes be secured to avoid any security challenges.