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S border management An Integrated Border Management Platform Service speaks to the first Commissioner and CEO of the newly established Border Management Authority, Dr Mike Masiapato, on how integrating border management functions will lead to improved security and better conditions for trade in South Africa. What is the Border Management Authority? The Border Management Authority (BMA) is a Schedule 3A public entity that operates autonomously outside the public service but within public administration. The BMA is responsible for facilitating and managing the legitimate movement of persons and trade across the ports of entry as well as the border law enforcement areas of the Republic. The official launch of the BMA, presided by President Ramaphosa, was held in October. Please tell us more. Yes, it may be important to contextualise the processes that had to be undertaken in the build-up to the launch. In the 2022/2023 financial year, the BMA was incubated within the Department of Home Affairs. During the period of incubation, we had to administrate and facilitate the transfer of functions, people and resources deployed We must ensure that we look after the country’s national security and its national interest and make sure that we can protect the Republic. across the 72 ports of entry from their government departments into the BMA. Our aim was to move away from a multi-agency approach and become an integrated border management platform for the implementation of border laws of South Africa. The president had to rank myself as the Commissioner of the BMA, the Deputy Commissioner of Operations, General David Chilembe (Rtd), and the Deputy Commissioner for Corporate Service, Jane Thupana, to demonstrate the official establishment of this third armed law enforcement authority. What is the BMA’s vision? Our vision is to create a single integrated border management platform that seeks to create a safe and prosperous South Africa for economic development. Dr Mike Masiapato, Commissioner of BMA. What is your personal vision for the BMA? My personal vision is to be able to have a single authority in the Republic that implements a multiplicity of laws in South Africa with the intention of ensuring that the country’s social and economic environment exists in a platform that enhances its growth. The most important issue is to introduce efficiencies, as far as border management activities are concerned particularly by integrating standard operating procedures that had been deployed by various government departments and which caused a lot of bureaucracy across the ports and therefore a lot of delays in terms of the movement of trade in and out of the Republic. The key vision is to have all those various standard operating procedures integrated into a single standard operating procedure to bring seamless movement of trade across the Republic. Also, to ensure that as we streamline the movement of trade between us and our neighbouring jurisdictions and among the broader global community, we look after the country’s national security and interest and protect the Republic from any infiltration of undesirable individuals or even commodities that are a threat to the country’s sustenance. 12 | Service magazine
order management S What are the broader key benefits of establishing an integrated border management mechanism? A major benefit is to optimally utilise our available resources. Part of what we do as the BMA is environmental bio-security protection to the Republic, which means that no invasive species that compromise our environment enter the Republic illegally. One of the other critical issues is to make sure that we integrate systems that were independently deployed by various government departments. The intention therefore is to have all these integrated into a single window which then enables us to better detect possibilities of people wanting to subvert our systems and enter the country illegally or bring in illicit goods. Mozambique. Instead of a slow movement of trucks and port backlogs, we want to make sure there is a better movement of trade. Exporters and importers must see results. However, working on the efficiency of trade movement must not detract border operations from the security mission. We must ensure that we look after the country’s national security and its national interest and make sure that we can protect the Republic. S What are some of the other challenges of a multi-agency approach? One of the biggest challenges is that there is a fragmented border management mechanism. That fragmentation created a lot of vulnerabilities for the Republic and enhanced a silo approach in terms of the implementation of border management work. The most critical issue is that a multi-agency approach facilitated corruption. Individuals could subvert the system very easily. If an individual from a particular department facilitated people illegally into the Republic, there was no way that the next department would question what was going on. So that on its own created an environment where the porousness of the borders became facilitated by the approach itself and that became a challenge. One of the other critical issues was that the sophisticated bureaucratic processes deployed caused a lot of delays across the ports of entry. There was not even a risk-based approach. How will the BMA affect the work of the government, travellers, traders and other countries? The government sets policies and laws, and even as it affects border management issues, it still has that responsibility. The departments still interact with their counterparts globally and are still the signatories of the various international protocols, conventions and all of those issues. The BMA stands as a front-line law enforcement authority on behalf of those departments hence all those functions had to be transferred into the BMA for implementation purposes. What it will do from a government point of view is to make sure there will be a seamless processing of both goods and people as they crisscross in between our ports. In terms of the impact on the travellers, one of the biggest differences they will see is that on arrival at the port the BMA conducts all the various functions. The method deployed by agents at ports of entry will be a riskbased model that will be able to identify individuals who should be intercepted and prevented from committing criminal activities. One of the biggest upsides of an efficiently functioning BMA will be to improve trade between South Africa and its neighbours. We will make sure that we streamline the movement of trade between us and our neighbouring jurisdictions and among the broader global community of nations. Work has begun on tightening border control with Zimbabwe and improving trade relations and synchronising systems with General David Chilembe, Deputy Commissioner: Operations, Jane Thupana, Deputy Commissioner: Corporate Services, Dr Michael Masiapato, Commissioner. “The establishment of the BMA is a significant step towards safer communities, better law enforcement and the growth of our economy through greater trade with our neighbours. Ensuring our borders are well-managed and well-protected is key to the security and development of our country.” President Cyril Ramaphosa, 10 October 2023. Service magazine | 13
