Sharp decline in numbers crossing border

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Sharp decline in numbers crossing border

12:10 CAT | 28 Dec 2016

The number of people crossing the Mozambique/South Africa border at Ressano Garcia in the ten days up to Christmas fell by over 31 per cent, when compared with the same period in 2015.

The Christmas period is one of the busiest parts of the year for the Ressano Garcia border post, as Mozambicans working in South Africa return to see their families, and South African tourists head for the beaches of southern Mozambique.

But this year there has been a sharp decline. According to the Mozambican immigration authorities at Ressano Garcia, cited by the independent television station STV, between 14 and 25 December a total of 219,160 people crossed the border. 144,202 of them were entering Mozambique and 74,958 were leaving,

This compares with 318,391 people crossing the border between the same dates in 2015 – 196,867 entering Mozambique and 121,565 leaving. So 99,231 fewer people crossed the border this year than in 2015.

Immigration officials suggested this was a result of the current economic crisis. “There may be other reasons, but we think the most important is the economic crisis”, said the head of the immigration brigade at Ressano Garcia, Lazaro Saraiva. “This situation means that people are opting to stay at home to save money”.

While this is a perfectly good explanation for Mozambicans opting not to spend their holidays in South Africa, it does not work in the opposite direction. For the sharp depreciation of the Mozambican currency, the metical, against the South African rand means that it has become cheaper for South African tourists to visit Mozambique, and the wages, paid in rands, of Mozambican migrants will buy many more meticais today than a year ago.

The poor image of Mozambique abroad, due largely to the insurrection waged by the rebel movement Renamo, may well have deterred tourists (even though Renamo attacks have not targeted tourist resorts in the southern provinces).

The predatory nature of some of the Mozambican traffic police, extorting money from tourists, may also have acted as a deterrent. The General Command of the police has cracked down on this corruption, immediately suspending an officer who was filmed extorting money from a South African family. This encouraging news would have come too late for those who had already booked Christmas holidays.

Source: AIM