The closure of the Lebombo border post between South Africa and Mozambique due to safety concerns will have a significant impact on South Africa’s logistics and mining companies and ultimately on the SA economy.
This is according to experts after the Border Management Authority (BMA) announced the temporary closure of the border post on Tuesday.
This comes after sporadic tensions and protests in the small town of Ressano Garcia, which is located close to the Lebombo Port of Entry. The protests have arisen after the Mozambican elections.
BMA spokesperson Mmemme Mogotsi said reports of vehicles being torched on the Mozambican side of the port of entry had prompted the closure.
Malcolm Hartwell, Norton Rose Fulbright director and master mariner, said the Lebombo border post was crucial for logistics and mining industries to access Maputo, which had experienced a surge in freight volumes as importers and exporters sought alternatives to South Africa's inefficient and costly ports.
Hartwell said although the border post was designed to service 600 trucks a day, reports are that up to 1 800 are arriving at the border post per day, causing lengthy queues and delays.
He said the temporary closure of the border will impact the SA economy.
“In the short term, it will result in delays in delivery of cargo to Maputo, which in turn will result in penalties to exporters for delay in loading vessels at Maputo,” he said.
“In the medium to long term, it will cause these companies to review their plans to grow imports and exports through Maputo,” he said.
Hartwell said depending on how long the closure lasts, companies may be forced to divert their trucks to Durban or Richards Bay. “That is often not viable because they have already committed to loading the cargo on ships booked to call at Maputo.”
He said companies whose trucks are delayed will have to carry the initial costs of those delays, but these will ultimately affect South Africa’s import and export-driven industries, and those costs will be passed on to the “long suffering” consumer.
Gavin Kelly, CEO of the Road Freight Association, said the situation at the border had deteriorated severely since the beginning of the week.
“The election issues over the past month have resulted in R5 billion in losses and growing,” he said.
Mary Phadi, president of the Trucking Association of SA (Tasa), said with the key transport corridor in Mozambique being affected, goods were either being rerouted or being delayed, causing a backlog that was felt across the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC) logistics network.
Phadi said this, combined with strikes and the increase in the price of diesel yesterday, was creating a highly challenging environment for the
logistics industry. Phadi said Tasa was seeing an increase in operational costs, longer delivery times and heightened uncertainty.
“These costs are being passed on through the supply chain, ultimately affecting the cost of goods for consumers who have suffered high costs of living since the Covid-19 pandemic disruptions,” said Phadi.
Trade and transport corridor specialist Barbara Mommen, from Coalescence Consulting, said the impact of the border closure was considerable due to the complexity of the international supply chains tha this corridor services, particularly where minerals exports out of the Port of Maputo are concerned.
“Apart from the daily losses to transport operators, cargo owners, shipping lines, port service providers, customs agencies, and so on, the losses probably run into tens of millions per day for each day that cargo cannot move.
“In addition, the export and import movement between South Africa and Mozambique, and potentially, Eswatini, will have a significant impact on small and medium businesses and, to some extent, on the multinationals dependent upon trade efficiency,” she said.
Border specialist Kage Barnett said there is no contingency for a border closure, so drivers would be told to park and wait until the situation is rectified.
He said waiting was expensive for drivers with limited funds and transporters with already costly businesses.
“Authorities have now allowed for empty vehicles stuck at KM4 to be allowed to cross into South Africa.”