Opportunity Issue 108

BORDER SECURITY
Protection
through coordination
The newly formed Border Management Authority has quickly set to work.
The value of South Africa’s newest law enforcement
authority was underlined in the first week of December
2023 and continued during the Festive Season operations
when various interventions were made at the ports of
entry managed by the Border Management Authority (BMA). The
Border Management Festive Season period comprised 43 days
from 6 December 2023 to 18 January 2024. More than five-million
people who travelled through the ports were facilitated by the
BMA this festive season, an increase from the number of fourmillion
seen in the 2022 Festive Season. The BMA will continue with
increased movement of travellers during the Easter holiday period.
The BMA operated in a coordinated approach to manage and
control movement at our borders. Last year to deal with the
expected rush on South Africa’s borders during the Christmas
holidays, an additional 380 personnel were deployed to the
country’s busiest ports of entry. Additionally, the BMA also
strategically deployed Border Guards at the 10 vulnerable
segments along the country’s border line of Beit Bridge,
Lebombo, Oshoek, Maseru, Ficksburg, Sani Pass and Telle Bridge
ports of entry. The Border Guards work closely with members
of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) at the
identified vulnerable segments. This resulted in the detection
and deportation of 27 005 individuals who were attempting to
enter South Africa illegally. A number of entities work together
to keep the country’s borders secure, and joint sting operations
and roadblocks are a good example of some of the interventions.
Issues such as health, agricultural security and the environment
are all part of the equation. In these areas, through detection and
interception, BMA agriculture, health and environmental specialists
work to prevent any threats as they seize illegal products from
entering South Africa.
Among the entities involved in border management are the
South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African National
Defence Force (SANDF), South African Revenue Service (customs
and revenue collection) and various government entities looking
at immigration. The BMA is the coordinating authority on border
security and major successes have been recorded. From drugs,
cars, illegal products, undocumented persons, etc have all been
prevented from entering the country through our ports.
Coordination vital
As Dr Masiapato says, “Our aim was
to move away from a multiagency
approach and become an integrated
border management platform for the
implementation of border laws of
South Africa.” Where before a person
entering South Africa or wanting to
trade across international boundaries
into the country would be subject
to various procedures and protocols
from a variety of agencies, the BMA is
the main point of contact and is in a
position to standardise operations. “The
key vision is to have all those various
procedures integrated into a single
standard operating procedure to bring
seamless movement of trade across the
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