A sudden move by the DRC’s immigration authority has disrupted a long-standing, cost-saving visa exemption for Zimbabwean truck drivers – and trucking bosses aren’t happy.
For years, a special MoU between Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) allowed Zim drivers to enter without paying for a visa.
It was a massive relief for fleet owners operating between southern Africa and the DRC’s lucrative Copperbelt region, especially Haut Katanga Province.
But now, the DRC’s Direction Générale de Migration (DGM) has decided – seemingly overnight – to scrap the deal.
What does that mean in real terms? A cool $50 (roughly R950) per driver for a 30-day visa.
Multiply that by a fleet of 100 trucks, and companies are coughing up R95,000 every trip – just for visa fees!
Even worse, it’s all cash, no receipts, no digital payments.
That’s a major headache for accountants trying to stick to forex laws and keep books clean.
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“You can’t track the money, and you can’t claim it,” a regional road freight watchdog, Transist, told Freight News.
“And to top it off, the visa can expire while the driver is still stuck in DRC, thanks to the border chaos.”
The chaos, of course, includes the infamous Kasumbalesa Border Post.
Truckers are still forced to deal with a sluggish cargo scanner system that officials say is “modern,” but most drivers reckon it’s from biblical times.
“It takes two days to verify an image,” the Transist rep added.
“That’s not a tech issue, that’s human laziness.”
Efforts by Transist to get answers from DRC officials have hit a brick wall.
With no end in sight, transporters are now having to rethink logistics, potentially increasing freight costs for DRC-bound cargo.
For now, it’s clear: the days of Zimbabwean drivers giving companies an edge are over.
Another day, another border hassle. Welcome to cross-border trucking in Africa.
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