The violent incidents that recently occurred on the border of the Free State province and Lesotho were addressed by transport minister Dipuo Peters and the Free State’s MEC for police, roads and transport Sam Mashinini, this week.

The department said that between 2 and 4 January, the Cross Border Road Transport Operators from Lesotho were affected by South Africa’s domestic Free State Taxi Operators.

This led to the Maseru border post being blocked, which made it difficult for people to move between the two countries, the department said. This was in direct contrast to the laws which govern the Cross-Border Road Transport between South Africa and the neighbouring countries, it added.

However, after stakeholders and law enforcement authorities intervened, the border post was reopened.

“The temporary closure of the border post inconvenienced the innocent commuters who relied on cross border road transport to reach their expected destinations,” the department said in a statement.

“Moreover, the failure to facilitate normal cross border operations has a direct negative impact on commuters who depend on passenger transport to traverse between South Africa and neighbouring countries,” it added.

The department said it acknowledges the on-going challenges and conflicts on the South African/Lesotho corridor.

A meeting was held between the department and a delegation from the Free State Province to discuss the disruption earlier this year. These were the outcomes:

• The National Ministerial Task Team (NMTT) will reconvene and report back within two weeks (on 15 February);
• The NMTT among others will look at the economic opportunities for the Free State Taxi Operators that can be created applying Section 75 of the National Land Transport Act (especially for towns bordering Lesotho point of entry); and
• The NMTT will verify operators who operate inter and intra provincially, and look at the possibility of awarding them cross border licenses.

The transport department said Peters will communicate with SADC’s secretariat regarding developments on this matter. She will also address passenger and vehicle safety and security on Lesotho’s side of the border.