BY BUSINESS EDITOR
MBABANE – Trucks ferrying goods to and from South Africa will now be able to get clearance without being limited by time.
Major boarder gates connecting Eswatini from South Africa were operational 24 hours a day; however, customs clearance department halted operations at 5PM which created traffic for truck ferrying goods.
This further caused traffic queues at 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 and exports by creating a backload.
The South African High Commissioner Advocate Thokozile Sipamla today met with Chief Executive Officers (CEO) and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, to discuss the trade and investment relations between South Africa and Eswatini.
Sipamla mentioned that the time zones would be reviewed since Eswatini borders were the second busiest in South Africa. She said 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.
She said it was important for the two countries to identify potential trade and investment opportunities around which mutually beneficial and complementary partnerships can be developed.
The high commissioner highlighted that both the South African and Eswatini economies are benefitting from growing trade between the two countries.
“From a tourism perspective, there has been a 124.5 per cent increase in tourists from South Africa visiting Eswatini in the period from January to September 2022, as opposed to the same period in 2021. These statistics reflect an amount of 232 651 South African tourists visiting Eswatini during the same period, compared to 103 609 in 2021,” she stated.
She said although exact destinations are difficult to obtain, over 400 000 Eswatini citizens left the country during the period from January to September 2022, as opposed to 204 243 during the same period and this reflects an increase of 125.5 per cent.
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo added that a one-stop border post with Eswatini Revenue Services (ERS) and the South African Revenue Services (SARS) would promote efficiency. 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.
“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.
