By Thupeyo Muleya in Beitbridge
LOOKING at it from outside, the duty-free shop at the Beitbridge Border Post appears like any other busy border shop.
The presence of touts and criminals, who are always roaming near the shop’s entrance jostling for “customers” to “help” cross the border into South Africa, gives the impression of a thriving shop.
Yet all these activities have nothing to do with the goings-on inside the building.
A visit to the duty-free shop always leaves many people wondering what has happened to this shop that was once the talk of town in the area.
“Sorry, we are still waiting for new stocks. You can get some soft drinks because that is all we have.” This is the statement that welcomes almost everyone who visits the shop.
The statement sums up the state of neglect of the duty-free shop which has since lost the glamour it was associated with when it was officially opened in 1995.
The once vibrant duty-free shop now resembles a disused warehouse following many years of neglect, with the shelves virtually empty.
The only items available in the shop are soft drinks and bus tyres. Trays belonging to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and the Automobile Association of Zimbabwe are gathering dust.
Actually, the shop has become more associated with the touts and criminals who conduct their illegal business right at its doors.
The touts and criminals also use the back of the building to smuggle “customers” into South Africa.
The shop has lost its value as a multi-billion-dollar investment as business has virtually ground to a halt.
While the shop is in a sorry state, just across the border on the South African side, a similar shop is always brisk with business. The local duty-free shop attracted a lot of interest soon after it was opened, with people coming from all parts of the country, and even from South Africa, to get indigenous products from Zimbabwe. But now one can hardly get mineral water and simple documents like the prospectus on Zimbabwe’s tourist resort areas and other tourists’ promotional facilities.
Many people expected things to change for the better as there is so much hype surrounding the country’s preparations for next year’s World Cup soccer extravaganza in South Africa. But nothing seems to be happening and no one appears to care about the duty-free shop anymore.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the shop is being leased to an Asian man called Mr Lee.
But it still boggles the mind why those leasing the shop are failing to lure businesspeople and tourism consultants to showcase their wares at the shop.
Duty-free shops are a common phenomenon and a standard requirement at international level at all ports of entry.
Normally, such shops are located on the exit point of every border post where travellers can get products without paying any customs duty to the country they would be departing from. Products that used to be popular at the Beitbridge duty-free shop included curios, perfumes, toiletries, mazoe orange crush, safari clothing, bracelets, hand bags, beer and outdoor equipment for tourists.
There are growing calls now for the shop to be hired out to a private company or a vibrant investor.
Beitbridge is a gateway to two transfrontier conservation areas — the Great Limpopo and The Greater Mapungubwe — which Zimbabwe shares with Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique.
An average of 15 000 people pass through the Beitbridge Border Post on a daily basis, making it the busiest port of entry in Sub-Saharan Africa. This means that the shop could be useful, especially with the great influx of tourists anticipated when the World Cup is held in June and July next year.
Occasionally, school children from South Africa and tourists from that country come in with high hopes of buying souvenirs but they always go empty handed.
“I was looking forward to buying a Zimbabwean-made handbag and a sun hat, but I am disappointed with what I have seen here,” said Tshilidzi Ramawa, a student from Livumbu Secondary School in South Africa’s Limpopo Province.
“I only got a soft drink. Imagine coming to such a shop and failing to get mineral water.” An immigration officer at the border post said they were not sure why the shop was not operating, but said it was important for it to open as soon as possible.
“The status quo here is very unpleasant, no wonder why we have a number of illegal vendors right at the clearing area,” he said.
“Travellers and people who work around here have nowhere to buy food and they end up relying on the illegal vendors.”
The illegal vendors said they were happy that the shop was not operating fully and wished it never opened.
One of the illegal vendors who identified herself as Tafadzwa Maphosa said their business was brisk because of the high demand for food by some travellers who often spend long hours in queues at the border. “Our business is thriving, though we have to fight running battles with the police who chase us away everyday,” said Maphosa. The police arrest nearly 70 illegal vendors each week in the border area and charge them under the Protected Areas Act.
But they usually pay fines and are released only to continue with vending the following day.
Three tuck shops which used to operate in the border area were closed in July 2007 to decongest the place. A truck driver from Malawi, Mr Fanuel Chukwu Mwale, who uses the border more often, said they were now afraid of contracting diseases such as cholera since they were relying on food from the illegal vendors. “We sometimes have to wait to buy our food when we reach the South African side,” he said.
“But you know what happens with hunger. Most of the times we end up buying from the illegal vendors because we will be too hungry to wait until we cross the border.”
Chairman of the Beitbridge Business Association, Mr Salatiel Roy Muleya, said the closure of the shop gave a bad impression about Zimbabwe.
He said there were consultations with the Government to have the duty-free shop re-opened.
“We are engaging the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and looking at creating a welcoming environment at the border post for the year 2010 and beyond,” said Mr Muleya.
“You will realise that the illegal vendors have taken advantage of the unavailability of a formal business and this explains why the war against this group of people is difficult to win.
“As the business community, we are also advocating for the creation of an information centre within the border or at the duty free shop, which would handle issues including immigration, customs, vehicle clearance and health.”
Mr Muleya said touts and conmen were on the sprawl at the border area because there was no information on procedures for the travellers.
But it remains to be seen if this multi-billion-dollar investment, which was opened amid pomp and fanfair a decade ago, will ever live to expectations.
Source: The Sunday Mail
Published here: 10 October 2009
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