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OSHOEK CUSTOM’S CLEARANCE TO BE REVIEWED

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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.

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