Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi comes across as someone who is so cool headed that one would expect him to always display diplomatic nous, even in the face of provocation. But that façade was rattled somewhat last month when it became apparent that, try as he did to secure the cooperation of Zimbabwean officials in resolving a traffic snarl-up at the Beitbridge border post, he had reached his wits’ ends.

For South Africa, Beitbridge is a vital gateway for cargo destined for Zimbabwe itself, Malawi, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Copious quantities of mineral products are hauled from the DRC and Zambia to South African ports for export to international markets, while all manner of essentials – from domestic and industrial consumables to capital goods – are transported in the opposite direction from South Africa. This country’s economy makes a tidy sum in the process.

It is thus understandable that the South Africa government gets frustrated when Beitbridge morphs into a major bottleneck from the trade-facilitating gateway it has always been meant to be. This is precisely what happened for the better part of last month.

The Zimbabweans have contracted a private company to upgrade the border post on their side using its own resources, with its compensation to come in the form of toll fees it will collect over the next 17 years. The first phase of the $300-million project, comprising a freight terminal and a new immigration building, has now been completed and the private company has started collecting toll fees. Nothing wrong with that. But the trouble is, for foreign- registered trucks, the concessionaire – its name is Zimborders – won’t accept electronic payment, at least for now, insisting on hard cash. That means greenbacks, not rands or the stuff that Zimbabwe uses as its legal tender alongside the US dollar.

To worsen matters, payment can be made only at Zimborders’ counters, and there isn’t enough parking space for trucks when drivers queue up to pay.

The upshot is that trucks cannot cross from South Africa until there is parking for them, and Zimbabwean and South African media reported last month that, since Zimborders started collecting toll fees, trucks had been queuing at the border for up to ten days.

That’s what riled Motsoaledi, who told reporters: “It’s a mockery that a country can take unilateral measures without warning us. It’s extremely frustrating and it’s killing business between South Africa and the rest of the continent.

One was hoping that Zimbabwe will be aware of the implications of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and what it means. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s not so with our neighbours.”

This is not the first time the minister has been gatvol with South Africa’s northern neighbour. In January, when both South Africa and Zimbabwe were in the throes of the second wave of Covid-19 infections and thousands of South Africa-based Zimbabweans who were returning from holiday could only filter through Beitbridge in dribs and drabs, owing to pandemic-containment measures, he took it upon himself to travel to Beitbridge to resolve the situation.

To his horror, he was alerted to “corruption on the Zimbabwean side” regarding the issuing of Covid-19 certificates. What’s more, he was shown footage of Zimbabwean soldiers and cops smuggling people without Covid-19 certificates into South Africa.

For Motsoaledi, Zimbabwe must indeed be the neighbour from hell.

The situation has eased considerably. Had it persisted, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula might have been involved and, knowing him, he could have called the Zimbabweans “a bunch of losers”, that badge of derision he once pinned on Bafana Bafana when they were performing badly.