Beitbridge

The town lies just north of the Limpopo River about 1 km from the Alfred Beit Road Bridge which spans the Limpopo between South Africa and Zimbabwe. The main roads are the A6 highway to Bulawayo and the Victoria Falls, being {{convert|321|km}} and {{convert|758|km}} away respectively and the A4 to Masvingo and Harare. According to the 2012 population census, the town had a population of 41,767 dominated by the Venda and Ndebele people. There is a sizable percentage of Shona people from other provinces. This is a busy border post with traders from all over Zimbabwe.

The Beitbridge border post is the busiest road border post in Southern Africa, and is best avoided during busy border-crossing seasons.

{{Weather box

|location = Beitbridge (1961–1990)

|single line = Yes

|metric first = Yes

|Jan record high C = 43.3

|Feb record high C = 42.3

|Mar record high C = 43.3

|Apr record high C = 39.4

|May record high C = 36.7

|Jun record high C = 36.6

|Jul record high C = 33.9

|Aug record high C = 40.2

|Sep record high C = 40.0

|Oct record high C = 43.3

|Nov record high C = 44.4

|Dec record high C = 44.7

|year record high C = 44.7

|Jan high C = 33.5

|Feb high C = 32.8

|Mar high C = 32.0

|Apr high C = 30.4

|May high C = 28.2

|Jun high C = 25.4

|Jul high C = 25.4

|Aug high C = 27.6

|Sep high C = 30.2

|Oct high C = 31.8

|Nov high C = 31.8

|Dec high C = 33.1

|year high C = 30.2

|Jan low C = 21.9

|Feb low C = 21.5

|Mar low C = 20.1

|Apr low C = 17.0

|May low C = 11.9

|Jun low C = 8.2

|Jul low C = 7.9

|Aug low C = 10.7

|Sep low C = 15.2

|Oct low C = 18.6

|Nov low C = 20.3

|Dec low C = 21.2

|year low C = 16.2

|Jan record low C = 12.8

|Feb record low C = 14.4

|Mar record low C = 11.7

|Apr record low C = 3.9

|May record low C = 2.8

|Jun record low C = -1.1

|Jul record low C = -0.6

|Aug record low C = 0.0

|Sep record low C = 4.4

|Oct record low C = 8.9

|Nov record low C = 11.1

|Dec record low C = 13.3

|year record low C = -1.1

|rain colour = green

|Jan rain mm = 56.8

|Feb rain mm = 54.8

|Mar rain mm = 34.1

|Apr rain mm = 25.6

|May rain mm = 10.0

|Jun rain mm = 3.1

|Jul rain mm = 0.4

|Aug rain mm = 1.5

|Sep rain mm = 14.9

|Oct rain mm = 28.4

|Nov rain mm = 48.7

|Dec rain mm = 53.7

|year rain mm = 332.0

|unit rain days =

|Jan rain days = 5

|Feb rain days = 4

|Mar rain days = 3

|Apr rain days = 2

|May rain days = 1

|Jun rain days = 1

|Jul rain days = 0

|Aug rain days = 0

|Sep rain days = 1

|Oct rain days = 2

|Nov rain days = 5

|Dec rain days = 5

|year rain days = 29

|Jan humidity = 62

|Feb humidity = 64

|Mar humidity = 60

|Apr humidity = 58

|May humidity = 52

|Jun humidity = 56

|Jul humidity = 51

|Aug humidity = 46

|Sep humidity = 46

|Oct humidity = 48

|Nov humidity = 53

|Dec humidity = 57

|year humidity = 54

|Jan sun = 244.9

|Feb sun = 217.5

|Mar sun = 241.8

|Apr sun = 240.0

|May sun = 275.9

|Jun sun = 252.0

|Jul sun = 263.5

|Aug sun = 272.8

|Sep sun = 252.0

|Oct sun = 248.0

|Nov sun = 225.0

|Dec sun = 226.3

|year sun =

|Jand sun = 7.9

|Febd sun = 7.7

|Mard sun = 7.8

|Aprd sun = 8.0

|Mayd sun = 8.9

|Jund sun = 8.4

|Juld sun = 8.5

|Augd sun = 8.8

|Sepd sun = 8.4

|Octd sun = 8.0

|Novd sun = 7.5

|Decd sun = 7.3

|yeard sun = 8.1

|source 1 = World Meteorological Organization{{cite web

| url = http://worldweather.wmo.int/en/city.html?cityId=963

| title = World Weather Information Service – Beitbridge

| publisher = World Meteorological Organization

| access-date = 12 May 2016}}

|source 2 = Deutscher Wetterdienst (extremes, humidity, and sun)

{{cite web

| url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_679910_kt.pdf

| title = Klimatafel von Beitbridge / Simbabwe

| work = Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world

| publisher = Deutscher Wetterdienst

| language = de

| access-date = 12 May 2016}}{{cite web |url=https://ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=67991&ano=2024&mes=12&day=13&hora=12&min=0&ndays=30|title=67991: Beitbridge (Zimbabwe)|author= |date= 13 December 2024|website=ogimet.com |publisher=OGIMET |access-date= 13 December 2024|quote=}}

}}

Beitbridge has an estimated 2,570 houses in formal settlements (primarily for government officials and mid-level private sector staff) and 3,000 in informal settlements. Formal-settlement dwellings are mainly two- to three-room brick houses, while those in the informal settlements are among the worst mud houses in Zimbabwe. The mud houses have since been demolished. Average house occupancy in the low-income and informal settlements varies considerably, as many people do not bring their families to Beitbridge, but includes at least four people. Recreational facilities are limited in low-income areas, consisting largely of bars and soccer pitches.

The major sources of local employment—freight, retail, construction, customs and the police—employ about 1,200 people. Informal sector activities—primarily vending and sex work—are as large as those in the formal sector, employing about 1,400. Outside of Beitbridge, farming is a major employer. A diamond mine recently closed, increasing unemployment and poverty. Most women rely on vending, sex work and cross-border trading for income. Truckers are present in the area with work coming from the border area of South Africa.

The Alfred Beit Road Bridge is named after Alfred Beit, founder of the De Beers diamond mining company and business associate of Cecil Rhodes. He was also a director of a number of companies, among them the British South Africa Company and Rhodesia Railways. The original bridge was constructed in 1929 at a cost of $600,000 and financed jointly between the Beit Railways Trust and the South African Railways.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19290902&id=Z3ItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SIwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3714,62900 New Alfred Beit Bridge is opened] The Montreal Gazette, 2 September 1929 The new bridge was completed in 1995, and was officially opened on 24 November. It was built by the Zimbabwean Government, which now benefits from the tolls levied on crossings. The new bridge can accommodate much heavier traffic than the old one could, which is now for rail traffic only.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

File:Sunday Best Beitbridge.jpg

On the South African side of the border the N1 Highway connects this border post to the main economic centres of Pretoria (463 km) and Johannesburg (521 km). The closest town is Musina (16 km). On the Zimbabwean side of the border post the road splits in two, with the A6 running to Bulawayo and the R1 to Masvingo. A railway also passes through this border post, side by side with the road, and splits into a line to Bulawayo and a line to Gweru via Rutenga.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Three railway lines meet at Beitbridge: the South African Spoornet line to Polokwane, the National Railways of Zimbabwe line to Gweru via Rutenga and the Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

There are four primary schools in the town namely Beitbridge Mission, Beitbridge Government, Dulivhadzimo Primary and St Mary's Primary School. There is a private school in the town named under Oakleigh House Trust School. Two secondary schools, Vhembe High School and St Joseph's Secondary School, cater for the post primary education in the town. There is no tertiary education facility in the town and high school graduates travel to district outside Beitbridge for tertiary education.

Dulivhadzimu Stadium, a small multi-purpose arena in the town was chosen by the ZANU-PF led 21st February Movement to host the annual national celebration of Robert Mugabe's date of birth on Saturday, 23 February 2008. On 21 February, two days before, Mugabe had turned 84.Beitbridge readies of Mugabe [http://www.zimdaily.com/news/117/ARTICLE/2384/2008-02-21.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228013630/http://www.zimdaily.com/news/117/ARTICLE/2384/2008-02-21.html|date=28 February 2008}} (accessed 20 February 2008) It was reported that workers repaired the potholes on the main roads in the city to make sure Mugabe's motorcade moved swiftly with a measure of comfort{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}}.

The Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway serves the town with train services to Bulawayo.

• Bulawayo
• Matabeleland South
• Musina
• Mwenezi District

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.newzimbabwe.com/covid-19-poser-as-trucks-overwhelm-beitbridge-border-post/ Covid-19 poser as trucks overwhelm Beitbridge Border Post] As of 12 June 2020.

{{Authority control}}

{{Beitbridge District}}

{{Matabeleland South Province}}

{{Geography of Zimbabwe}}

Category:Populated places in Zimbabwe

Category:Matabeleland South Province

Category:South Africa–Zimbabwe border crossings