South Africa denies entry to travellers taking rapid Covid-19 test in Mozambique – O País report

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South Africa denies entry to travellers taking rapid Covid-19 test in Mozambique – O País report

1:11 CAT | 07 Jan 2021

Photo: O País

South African officials at the Lebombo border post are denying entry to Mozambican citizens who have taken a rapid Covid-19 test at the Ressano Garcia border post in Mozambique, O País reports.

The reasons for this posture are not yet known, the same source adds, pointing out that, in the meantime, vehicles remain backed up, and those waiting feel abandoned.

Sleeping would-be travellers are now a common sight on the border, their bodies stricken by the exhaustion of waiting such a long time

On the ground, ‘O País’ found a mother not sleeping, but eating to replenish her energies and make sure that her two-month-old son, with whom she is waiting for the opportunity to enter South Africa, survives this unprecedented odyssey.

A gloomy and uncertain scenario is how the travellers trapped for days describe the situation, with no end in sight, at least not by this Wednesday [January 6].

One group of Mozambicans said that they paid to take the Covid-19 rapid test in Mozambique, only to see it rejected by the South African authorities and themselves thereby barred from travelling

Salatiel André is one of the Mozambican citizens who saw his travel plans thwarted when he was refused entry and sent back by South African officials.

“We took a test on the Mozambican side, where they told us that this [test] would start being accepted today [Wednesday] at 06:00 a.m.. So we stamped our passports and slept happily, thinking that we would soon be on our way. But when we arrived on the South African side [Lebombo/Komatipoort], they rejected the test and sent us back. When we arrived back in Mozambique, there was nobody there to assist us,” Salatiel André reported.

Another traveller, Adérito Ribeiro, called on the Mozambican government to address the situation, saying that he felt abandoned. “I hope that the competent bodies will be able to get in touch” with their South African counterparts and “resolve this situation, because we are having hard times”.

The queue of vehicles for the Ressano border crossing has increased in length from 15 to 17 kilometres. Although road traffic had gained some fluidity, truck drivers again created havoc, to the despair of those yearning only to continue their journeys.

By Amandio Borges

Source: O País