HUNDREDS of travellers, mostly cross-border traders and shoppers, were left stranded in Beitbridge on Wednesday after bus operators withdrew their services in fear of having their buses impounded in an operation targeting goods smuggled into the country.
Dozens of buses have been seized and some operators have been asked to pay hefty fines of up to US$60 000 after being found carrying goods believed to be contraband.
Between 120 (off peak) and 220 (peak) buses pass through the border post everyday, with dozens others going only as far as the border town as they do not have cross-border permits.
The number of travellers usually rises during the festive season.
On Wednesday, some bus crews offloaded passengers and parked their buses after several vehicles were netted in the operation.
While presenting the 2025 national budget presentation at the new Parliament Building in Mt Hampden last Friday, Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion minister Mthuli Ncube declared war on smuggling, indirectly targeting cross-border traders informally known as “runners” when he announced the new directive.
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He said the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) was authorised to seize certain products if importers failed to produce documentary evidence that customs duty had been paid.
Ncube also authorised officials to raid tuckshops and any other outlets and seize goods suspected to have been smuggled.
Soon after the announcement, government deployed security agents, who mounted roadblocks and checkpoints on roads leading to Zimbabwe’s border posts, including Beitbridge.
Armed police officers supported different groups of officers who were stopping all vehicles coming from border towns, redirecting them to nearby Customs yards if they did not have the required papers for imported goods.
It is understood some transporters were charged hefty fines of up to US$60 000 per bus for carrying goods believed to have been smuggled into the country.
The task teams have since detained several buses in different towns, including Masvingo, Beitbridge and Harare at BAK Storage facilities after being impounded along the Harare-Beitbridge Highway.
Reports said many buses and trucks travelling along roads leading to border posts were also being held in Chinhoyi, Bulawayo, Mutare and other towns as government enforced the new directive.
“We were ordered to return to the border post by a team which stopped us about 30km out of Beitbridge. We were escorted to the border post, where thorough searches were conducted on buses,” a woman caught up in the swoop told NewsDay in an interview yesterday.
Several other buses were stuck at the border post, where their goods were being offloaded into Customs warehouses.
Targeted products include essentials like rice, sugar and dairy products, as well as clothing, tyres and electrical appliances.
The comprehensive list of the targeted goods include alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, cement, clothing and footwear, dairy products, diapers, electrical appliances and cables, ploughs and parts, processed rice and pasta, sugar, motor spare parts, washing powder and detergents.
Zimra Beitbridge hired dozens of casual workers to pack goods seized from travellers. At Dulivhadzimo bus terminus, many buses off-loaded passengers, luggage and parked.
“Our employers have told us not to load goods. We have heard some buses have been fined up to US$60 000 and we are not ready to risk,” a bus driver said.
Some of the buses do not cross the border transport goods and transport contraband most of which is smuggled into the country across the dry Limpopo River.
A Beitbridge Municipal police manning the gates to collect levies from buses using the terminus said not a single bus left Beitbridge on Wednesday, which was unusual.