The government is willing to expropriate land from owners who are unwilling to sell as it embarks on a programme to refurbish border posts, with construction and engineering group Raubex gunning for a slice of the modernisation tender.
Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the state is looking for construction and engineering partners in the multimillion-rand public-private partnership that would help it inject cutting-edge technology and infrastructure into the ports of entry to beef up security and smooth freight movement.
Bidders have until March 4 2024 to respond to the call for proposals.
“The SA government is committed to putting in the latest infrastructure and relevant technology in its effort to modernise and upgrade our ports to be on par with the current global practices on border management,” Motsoaledi said.
“The main objective is to make it easier for law-abiding people and companies to easily enter and exit SA through our borders while the illicit movement of persons and goods is nipped in the bud.”
The minister said the departments of agriculture and public works have already transferred land to the Border Management Authority for the projects. Private landowners still need to be consulted in some instances. But he warned that the state would not hesitate to expropriate land from unwilling owners.
“This project is in the public interest of SA and our neighbours, so if anybody refuses we might even have to expropriate because we can’t allow anybody to hold many countries at ransom just because they own a small piece of land.”
The department of home affairs has opened bids for private entities to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain six of SA’s busiest land ports of entry. The border posts earmarked for upgrading are Beitbridge, Lebombo, Maseru Bridge, Ficksburg, Kopfontein and Oshoek, leading to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini. SA has 72 ports of entry, 53 of which are land ports, 11 are international airports and eight are seaports. All are operated by the Border Management Authority.
Raubex CEO Felicia Msiza told Business Day the experience gained on the $172m reconstruction of the Zimbabwe Beitbridge border post pushed the group to new heights, making it well placed for further public-private partnerships.
She said the R4.7bn company is well positioned to execute on the government’s call for efficient upgrades and maintenance of the border posts, but Raubex will not bid for all six projects.
Group COO Dirk Lourens said the border posts Raubex would prefer to work on include Beitbridge in Limpopo on the SA side as “this is still the main corridor of goods going into Africa”. The Komatipoort border post in Mpumalanga is also attractive for the group.
The Beitbridge border project, done through the public-private partnership model, was the largest project awarded in Raubex’s history, with the group having completed it on time and within budget. As part of the deal, there was a condition in the contract that 40% of the labour and materials used would be locally sourced, boosting the economy in Zimbabwe.
Proven performance
“Beitbridge Zimbabwe went from being the worst border post on the continent to the best,” said Raubex chair Rudolf Fourie, pointing to the reduction of queues and a 100% improvement in revenue allocation reported by the Zimbabwe government. “We would like to do more public-private partnerships because we’ve proven we can do it. We’ve got the balance sheet to fund [them].”
After building staff quarters, a fire station and a water reservoir, the company now has a 17-year contract to maintain and manage the infrastructure at Beitbridge border post.
“We believe public-private partnerships, including this project, are a testament to the power of collaboration between the government, the private sector and funders,” Msiza said. “This is what we need as SA.”
Lamenting SA’s congested borders, Motsoaledi said the upgrades would speed up trade to facilitate the rollout of the African Continental Free Trade Area and improve revenue collection while protecting local markets from illegal imports.
The authorities said that while no single company would be awarded two ports to build, contending companies would have to design proposals that adhere to thresholds for ownership, job creation, local content and preferential procurement.
About 38,000 jobs are expected to be created through the projects, which have already secured $1m from the Southern African Development Community preparation fund.
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