Border between Zimbabwe and South Africa

The border between South Africa (green) and Zimbabwe (orange)

The border between the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Republic of South Africa is about 250 kilometers long and runs in one continuous section. It begins in the east on the northern edge of the Kruger National Park and follows the course of the Limpopo River to the border triangle with Botswana in the west .

geography

At the border triangle in the Mapungubwe National Park. The river from left to right is the Limpopo ; the river that disappears on the horizon is the Shashe

Border crossing on the South African side at Beit Bridge

Borderline

The easternmost border point, at Limpopo, forms a triangle at Crooks' Corner between the state borders of South Africa with Mozambique and Zimbabwe. From this point the border extends along the river to the west, following all of its curves. In places, their course is alternately set on sections of the bank.

The border between the two states also forms the border of the South African province of Limpopo and the Zimbabwean provinces of Masvingo with only a short section in the eastern border area and Matabeleland South .

The western end point of the border line meets the national territory of Botswana and is located in the Mapungubwe National Park , where the Shashe flows into the Limpopo. The latter forms the continuation of the state border between South Africa and Botswana .

Transport links

There is only one bridge to cross the border for road traffic, which stretches across the Limpopo south of the Zimbabwean city of Beitbridge with a combined road-rail bridge and a new road bridge . The same applies to rail traffic between the two countries. At this point the national road N1 and the trunk road A4 connect the two countries. The Pretoria – Bulawayo railway line also crosses the border here parallel to the new road bridge.

Driving on the road bridge, which opened in 1994, is subject to a toll. Depending on the direction of traffic, the bridge fee is collected by a Zimbabwean ( Zimbabwe National Road Administration , short: ZINARA ) or a South African agency. It was created by New Limpopo Bridge Projects Limited (NLP) under the direction of the South African investor group NLPI Ltd. built.

Water extraction from the border river

In the border area between the two states, attempts have been made to extract water from the Limpopo. An irrigation system in Zimbabwe from groundwater resources was set up before the country's independence, but was abandoned because of the excessive salinity of the Limpopo aquifer .

The start of diamond mining in the Venetia Mine in August 1992, which is now the largest diamond mining in South Africa, made it necessary to extract water from the Limpopo. After the results of the preliminary planning and variant investigations, a weir was built near Beitbridge , the structure of which runs out on both sides of the border or the bank zones .

Border crossing

There is an official border crossing between the two states. The Beitbridge / Beit Bridge border crossing is an economically and touristically important traffic control and customs registration point in southern Africa, as the international traffic routes that run here are among the most heavily frequented north-south long-distance connections in this part of the continent.

Due to the high traffic volume at the Beit Bridge border post , South Africa is planning to set up additional border crossings to Zimbabwe in consultation with Zimbabwe and Botswana, for example near Mapungubwe (location 22 ° 12 ′ 42.5 ″ S , 29 ° 24 ′ 12.3 ″ E ) and Chikwarakwara (position 22 ° 19 ′ 5.3 ″ S , 31 ° 4 ′ 33.3 ″ E ). -22.211792 29.403427-22.31815 31.075923

Zimbabwe		South Africa		Remarks	Coordinates
Street	Border crossing	Street	Border crossing	Remarks	Coordinates
A4	Beitbridge	N1	Beit Bridge , Beit Bridge Border Control	Modern border crossing, international freight handling and control of passenger traffic, 24 hours for tourists, 6 am to 6 pm for freight handling	Location in Zimbabwe 22 ° 13 ′ 5 ″ S , 29 ° 59 ′ 11.5 ″ E. Location in South Africa 22 ° 13 ′ 44.8 ″ S , 29 ° 59 ′ 8.1 ″ E-22.218059 29.986517 -22.229103 29.985595

history

For decades, the border between the two countries has been crossed in large numbers by migrant workers from Zimbabwe and other African countries who find legal and informal employment in South Africa .

In particular, farms in the Musina region benefit from the presence of Zimbabwean cross-border workers, as they are available as cheap labor. The living conditions in this group are often precarious. To alleviate these emergency situations in the border region, the South African Catholic Church began in 2008 in the township of Nancefield (in the northern area of Musina) with a food supply for incoming refugees . Since 2007, employees of the aid organization MSF have been providing basic and initial medical care for Zimbabwean refugees on the farms, in settlements around Musina and in the center of Johannesburg . The British children's aid organization Save the Children is also active here.

A renovation of the Beit Bridge / Beitbridge border crossing with extensive modernization started in February 2020 and is expected to extend over two years. At the same time, thorough road renovation work on the highway between Harare and Beitbridge is running in Zimbabwe. The monthly traffic frequency here had increased to 200,000 travelers, 30,000 buses, 100,000 small vehicles and 35,000 trucks by the beginning of 2020.

Events

The Pride of Africa luxury train also runs on the cross-border railway line via Bulawayo to Victoria Falls .

There have been repeated reports of illegal arms trafficking and drug smuggling activities around the Beitbridge border crossing .

In December 2019, 3,967 people were arrested by Zimbabwean authorities at the Beitbridge border crossing for violating immigration law. The most common offenses were border jumping at the fences, avoidance behavior in order not to have a passport stamped, and crossing the border with stolen personal documents. According to statistical records, 200 undocumented children were arrested when crossing the border in December 2019, accompanied by third parties in the direction of South Africa or Zimbabwe. The smuggling of minors into both countries is a widespread phenomenon during the holiday season, sometimes with parental consent. 10 people were convicted of people smuggling by the courts. According to a newspaper report, most of the children arrested came from Bulawayo , Harare and Chiredzi . Her destinations in South Africa were mainly Johannesburg and Cape Town . There have also been numerous attempts to cross the border in Beitbridge with destroyed or invalid travel documents. These included people from Burundi , Guinea-Bissau , India , Kenya , Malawi , Mozambique , Nigeria , Rwanda , South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda .

The aim of building a 40-kilometer border fence at the only border crossing between Zimbabwe and South Africa is to try to limit the ongoing uncontrolled immigration from the north to South Africa and the associated spread of the corona virus in this way. After completion, the fence should extend 20 kilometers along the border at a height of 1.80 meters on both sides of the border crossing. According to the Minister for Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille , this facility serves to protect those entering and leaving the country, who can go through the associated health checks. A coordination with the neighboring countries and the African Union had taken place. Work started on March 26, 2020. The cost should amount to 37 million rand .