Mbabane: The Ministries of Home Affairs in the Kingdom of Eswatini and the Republic of South Africa have jointly agreed to indefinitely suspend the COVID-19 test certificate requirement for truck drivers embarking on essential cross border travel between the two countries.
This comes after there was so much confusion in the border posts where truck drivers had a hard time crossing over to South African having to produce the test results certificate. This mainly happened on October 1 which was the date where South Africa opened her borders for international travel under level 1 alert.
However, the government of Eswatini swiftly intervened and the truck drivers were then given green light to proceed with their journey. Minister of Commerce Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo issued a statement on the issue of essential service providers being exempted from testing.
Khumalo said the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade held discussions with its counterparts from the Department of Trade and Industry in the Republic of South Africa and they have communicated that cross-border travel for truck drivers will continue as normal during the first few days after October 1, 2020
Meanwhile, on Friday, October 2 the Ministry of Home Affairs then announced the suspension of the test certificate requirement.
Speaking to this publication, Minister of Home Affairs Princess Lindiwe said the duration of the suspension of the requirement cannot be established yet until the South African counterpart provides an update or comes up with new regulations. She said for now the normal routine that was used before will continue be effective.
The minister said the usual precautionary measures would be taken and screening conducted.
When asked if other travellers like hawkers still need to provide the certificate, the Minister said yes they are still mandated to provide the certificate so to be allowed to cross over.
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