Carte Blanche, a South African television show will be airing an investigation into alleged corrupt activities happening at the main border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
A post on X reads, ‘The Beitbridge border post is a place where corruption meets opportunity. We investigate how Home Affairs officials are helping some Zimbabwean nationals illegally extend their time in South Africa. Watch #CarteBlanche every Sunday at 7pm on @MNet channel 101’.
The alleged corruption is happening on the South African side of the immigration process.
Which is why a Zimbabwean national felt that referring to it as the Beitbridge Border Post is unfair to Zimbabwe as it implies that it’s the Zimbabwean immigration officers who are corrupt. He says, on a WhatsApp post, Carte Blanche should allude to the Musina Border Post and not Beitbridge Border Post, ‘SA side so it should read Musina. Such a huge show that can’t differentiate between Beitbridge and Musina🙄🙄🙄’.
Fair point. Only there is no Musina Border Post.
While Zimbabwe’s border posts are mostly named from the Zimbabwean side – for example: Plumtree, Victoria Falls, Chirundu – it is not the same for South Africa.
South Africa has over 50 border posts with its neighbouring countries. And a number of these use the same name as the one used in the neighbouring country. Beitbridge Border Post is one of those. The main border post between South Africa and Zimbabwe is called the Beitbridge Border Post on both sides. It is not Musina Border Post on the South African side.
It’s the same with some of its border posts with Botswana. For instance, Ramatlabama, Bray and Zanzibar are some of those that carry the same name on both sides of the border.
Conclusion
While Carte Blanche could, maybe, have made it clearer that it was investigating corruption on the part of South African Home Affairs officials and Zimbabwean citizens, it is not wrong in referring to the border post as the Beitbridge Border Post. It’s called such on both sides and officially, there is no Musina Border Post.
