Nyaradzo Makombe |  8 months ago | top

The new Beitbridge border post has been hailed for being user-friendly for women and people living with disabilities.

The facility has seen a huge facelift in many areas, and these improvements have taken into consideration marginalized members of society who also use the busy border post.

Zimboarders General Manager, Nqobile Ncube, says the modernisation of Beitbridge boarder post is in line with current international travel standards, which include the availability of ramps to assist people with disabilities to move with ease. 

Speaking after a tour of the post by Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (ZINEF) members, Mr. Ncube added that they have also established a nursing station for mothers to use while they are in transit.

Said Mr. Ncube, "… we have got accessible ramps which make it easy for people with disabilities to use at the boarder and we have booths for breastfeeding mothers to use because they constantly find it difficult to change diapers, hence we created a decent space for them."

Mr. Ncube added that they are looking forward to upgrading other ports of entry so that they match international traveling standards.

One of the travelers who used the new facilities at the Beitbridge post, Tendayi Chitemere, applauded government for the improvements, saying the new developments at that port of entry accommodate women’s daily needs such as breastfeeding babies.

“I am happy and grateful for the changes that have since been made at the boarder. They have created a special space for nursing mothers and we can now breastfeed and change our babies in decent rooms," said Tendayi.

Besides the boarder post, the Harare-Beitbridge highway is one of the busiest international highways linking South Africa to the rest of the SADC region via Zimbabwe and over 300km of the road has been revamped and is now open to traffic.