Civil Engineering May 2022 | Vol 30 No 4

Civil Engineering May 2022 43 The total number of bus permits is- sued per country between 2011 and 2021 are as follows: Q Q Zimbabwe – 11 443 (45.6%) Q Q Mozambique – 4 007 (16%) Q Q Lesotho – 3 760 (15%) Q Q Malawi – 2 009 (8%) Q Q Botswana – 1 594 (6.4%) Q Q eSwatini – 884 (3.5%) Q Q Namibia – 629 (2.5%) Q Q Zambia – 622 (2.5%) Q Q DRC – 123 (0.5%). Zimbabwe has the highest number of per- mits issued and fluctuates above the 1 000 range, compared to other countries which ranged below 800. There was a sharp decrease in permit issuance in 2021. In 2020 a total of 1 810 bus permits were issued, compared to just 620 in 2021. A comparison between 2020 and 2021 permit issuance indicates that all the countries decreased, with DRC and Lesotho showing the largest decrease of 100% and 99% respectively. Taxi permits issued for cross-border operations Figure 2 shows cross-border taxi permits issued (161 083) over the ten-year period studied. The total number of taxi permits issued per country between 2011 and 2021 are as follows: Q Q Mozambique – 66 630 (41.4%) Q Q Zimbabwe – 61 349 (38.1%) Q Q Lesotho – 19 112 (11.9%) Q Q eSwatini – 6 711 (4.2%) Q Q Botswana – 5 464 (3.4%) Q Q Namibia – 1173 (0.7%) Q Q Malawi – 301 (0.2%) Q Q Zambia – 313 (0.2%) Q Q DRC – 29 (0%) Q Q Angola – 1 (0%). There was a decrease in taxi permits issued between 2013 and 2015 and a stable increase from 2016 to 2020. A drastic drop was observed in 2021 because of the effects of the hard lockdown. In 2020, 26 469 taxi permits were issued compared to just 5 160 in 2021. A comparison between 2020 and 2021 indicates that all the countries decreased, with Botswana showing the largest decrease of 98%. Tourist permits issued for cross-border operations There is an observable fluctuation trend in tourist permits issued from 2011 to 2021, as shown in Figure 3. Number of permits issued 16 000 14 000 12 000 10 000 8 000 6 000 4 000 2 000 0 Year 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 Botswana DRC Lesotho Malawi Mozambique Namibia eSwatini Zambia Zimbabwe Figure 2 Taxi permits issued per country (Source: C-BRTA Annual Reports, 2011–2021) Number of permits issued 3 000 2 500 2 000 1 500 1 000 500 0 Year 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 Figure 3 Regional tourist permits issued per year (Source: C-BRTA Annual Reports, 2011–2021) Number of permits issued 30 000 27 000 24 000 21 000 18 000 15 000 12 000 9 000 6 000 3 000 0 Year 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 Tourist permits Taxi permits Bus permits Figure 4 Comparison of cross-border passenger permits issued (Source: C-BRTA Annual Reports, 2011–2021)