Alfred Moselakgomo

Alfred Moselakgomo

Visiting Mozambique from South Africa will soon be a quicker and more hassle-free journey since both countries have found a more efficient way of inspecting and clearing passenger and goods vehicles.

The One Stop Border Post (OSBP) initiative has been introduced to deal with the huge number of people who cross at South Africa's Lebombo and Mozambique's Resanno Garcia border posts.

It is a South African revenue service initiative implemented by the Department of Public Works. Mpumalanga government spokesman Ntime Skhosana said the OSBP would provide opportunities for large investment owing to the increased movement of goods and people when it is completed in 2010.

"We will soon investigate the availability of state and private land [within the business radius of the OSBP] for varying forms of investment packaging in partnership with our Mozambique counterparts," Skhosana said.

"The OSBP will speed up the movement of people from both South Africa and Mozambique."

Skhosana said the OSBP would be based on a single integrated customs and immigration system for travellers and increase the number of people and cargo moving between the two countries.

The role of the provincial government included ensuring that the Nkomazi municipality is geared to and prepared for the social services associated with such a big construction project.

"The OSBP will be situated at the current Lebombo Resanno Garcia border post and construction will begin in January next year after a temporary border is built and requirements such as system design, consultation and the environmental impact record have been met."