The Border Management Authority (BMA) says it expects to start engaging with the Mozambican government following the closure of the Lebombo Border Post due to security concerns.
This amid protests owing to political tensions in that country, which have culminated in reports of vehicles being burnt on the Mozambican side of the border.
Speaking to media at the border post on Friday, BMA Commissioner Dr Mike Masiapato reiterated that the border remains closed at this stage.
“The status quo remains… where, the port is closed as we speak... We are [now] busy engaging with the Mozambicans to... make a determination about the way forward.
“The only difference is that the people here at the port, the leaders at the port levels, say that these issues are now getting more complicated, and they will not be able to make any significant determinations,” Masiapato said.
He advised travelers to use alternative ports to travel.
“We have advised them to use the Mananga port of entry. It is 60km from [Lebombo border post] and most taxi drivers have actually started doing that.
“[This] will enable them to enter into Eswatini and ultimately enter into Mozambique, so basically, those are Mozambicans trying to go back home. Th iiss the best we could have done.
“Once we have met with the people from [the Mozambique] side, we will be able to make a final determination,” he said.
Masiapato strongly advised South Africans not to travel into that country.
“South Africans are discouraged from planning any kind of travel into Mozambique, that is a very clear one. When talk about even a partial re-opening for the movement of persons, we are talking about Mozambicans who are going back home.
“We cannot keep them [Mozambicans] unless they want to be kept like the immigration officers that we kept here for their safety (sic). But for the ordinary Mozambicans who say ‘I want to go back home’, we should not necessarily continue to refuse them to do so.
“But for us to be able to do so, it must be an agreement between us and the Mozambicans primarily on their ability to receive them and to do border management activities on them – particularly immigration activities,” he said.
Masiapato said that on the Mozambican side, the BMA has not received any indication of South Africans “who are under siege”.
“The only issue that we had on Wednesday was the issue of the… South African trucks that were empty that wanted to come back.
“When we did a partial re-opening, all those trucks came back. We were also able to repatriate around six petroleum trucks that carry fuel and all of those. We had to take them out of… the Mozambican side because of the danger that such kind of trucks have,” Masiapato said. – SAnews.gov.za
