BMA officials nabbed in Beitbridge sting
Two Border Management Authority (BMA) Immigration officials, together with several other suspects, are facing charges of corruption after being arrested at an intelligence-driven operation...
Rhino poaching crackdown: Kruger staff’s efforts lead to major sentences
The value of proper training added to on-the-job gut feel paid off for two Kruger National Park (KNP) staffers with an 11-year sentence handed...
Drones, body-worn cameras and other tech to help secure SA’s borders
Quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, as well as body-worn cameras and other new technologies have been introduced by the Border Management Authority...
SA soldiers stopped illegal immigration, confiscated precious metals and impounded livestock in March
Soldiers deployed on the standing SA National Defence Force (SANDF) border tasking Operation Corona had a busy time on Lesotho’s national boundaries with South...
South Africa increases deportation of illegal immigrants
The Department of Home Affairs deported 46 898 illegal immigrants in the 2024/25 financial year ending 31 March 2025, representing an 18% increase compared to...
BMA has apprehended half a million illegal immigrants since inception
While challenges remain, progress has been made in strengthening South Africa’s border management systems, Commissioner of the Border Management Authority (BMA), Dr Michael Masiapato,...
Organised crime threatens Limpopo as border control said to be lacking
A “collapse of control” along the Limpopo/Zimbabwe border, apart from fuelling organised crime, also threatens tourism and agriculture as well as jeopardising the future...
Gunners recover bakkie stolen from Limpopo village
While not border protection as per the Operation Corona mandate, the actions of anti-aircraft gunners currently tasked with this duty who recovered an expensive...
4 SAI foot patrol nets dagga worth over R1.5 million
A regulation Operation Corona foot patrol in northern KwaZulu-Natal brought just reward with confiscation of R1.5 million plus worth of dagga by South African...
Schreiber launches Anti-Corruption Forum to combat border and immigration fraud
The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, has unveiled a plan to root out corruption within South Africa’s border management and immigration systems.
Speaking...
Cross-border contraband and drug smuggling drop in February
South Africa’s first line of border protection in the form of 15 companies of mostly infantry soldiers deployed along just on 4 500km of...
Rhino poaching down last year, KZN still bears the brunt
KwaZulu-Natal now has the unwanted title of being South Africa’s most targeted rhino poaching province.
The province, according to Forestry, Fisheries and Environment minister Dion...
BMA advocates public-private partnerships in border management
The Border Management Authority (BMA), established as the country’s third national armed law enforcement authority, is responsible for overseeing border security across ports of...
BMA Commissioner to attend Public-Private Partnerships Conference
The Commissioner of the Border Management Authority (BMA), Dr Michael Masiapato, will on Friday participate in the 2nd Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for Defence and...
BMA UAVs on the way
By the end of March South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) will add the first of ten unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to its equipment...
Gunners show their mettle in border protection
Kimberley-based 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment is a non-infantry unit currently doing border protection as per the standing Operation Corona with three solid “scores” to its...
South Africa’s efforts to manage immigration and combat illegal entry
The South African Department of Home Affairs has outlined measures to address the increasing number of illegal immigrants entering the country, particularly from Ethiopia,...
Innovative technologies and strategies for border control in South Africa
South Africa’s borders have long served as a crucial gateway for commerce, tourism, and immigration. Today, with risks growing from transnational organized crime, human...
Livestock theft a headache for eastern Free State police
In addition to being an area where livestock roams – not always of own volition – in search of grazing, police and soldiers on...
Illegal immigration down in January, but SANDF had hands full with contraband smugglers
SA Army soldiers on border protection duties had it relatively quiet in January as far as putting the brakes on illegal immigration but had...
Interpol carries out successful West Africa border security operation
An Interpol co-ordinated border security operation in West Africa saw 45 arrests and the seizure of drugs, counterfeit medicines and stolen vehicles worth millions...
Drone technology boosts border security over festive season
The use of drone technology has boosted South Africa’s border security efforts, with operations at ports of entry this festive season having been improved...
Over R21 million worth of counterfeit goods and smuggled cigarettes seized in Limpopo operations
The combined efforts of the South African Police Service (SAPS), represented by the MAJOC Roving Team as part of Operation Vala Umgodi, the National...
SAPS foils major smuggling operation along Limpopo River
The South African Police Service (SAPS) Operation Vala Umgodi National Intervention (Roving) Team successfully disrupted a large-scale smuggling operation along the Limpopo River in...
No let-up for soldiers on border protection duty in December
Soldiers doing the hard yards on largely inhospitable border territory with Mozambique and Zimbabwe prevented 1 675 people from illegally entering South Africa in...
Not enough infantry sees other SA Army musterings used for border protection
South Africa’s ongoing border protection tasking – now in its 16th year – executed in the main by infantry units, shows how short of...
Organized crime fuels terror in Sahel nations
The military juntas leading Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have pledged to confront the terrorist groups plaguing their countries. However, a recent United Nations...
Suspected bushmeat poachers nabbed by Kruger Park crime investigators
It might be year-end for many but not poachers and those tasked with stopping them as two suspects found out when they fell foul...
Call for multi-disciplinary task teams to address Free State cross-border crime
The lack of effective fencing on South African land borders contributes to easy access for, among others, farmers seeking good grazing, and livestock thieves.
On...
Money recovered from criminals to fund BMA acquisitions
The newest addition to South Africa’s security architecture - the Border Management Authority (BMA) - is, by the admission of the responsible Cabinet minister,...
What is happening at South Africa’s borders when the sun goes down?
After the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) took us for a day patrol along the eastern side of the Beit Bridge border area,...
Human traffickers also on the BMA radar
Now into its second year of operations, Commissioner Michael Masiapato’s Border Management Authority (BMA) is making inroads into human trafficking.
A statement has it recent...
R1.1 million dagga bust by SANDF Op Corona soldiers
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers on Operation Corona border patrol duty this week recorded a massive dagga bust, amongst other successes.
On 9...
Lack of border fencing a major contributor to illegal grazing
When not intercepting illegal immigrants or smugglers attempting to enter South Africa loaded with contraband, soldiers deployed on the border protection tasking Operation Corona...
From accosting drug smugglers to herding livestock – just another day on SA border...
By far – in monetary terms – the most successful part of the Operation Corona border protection tasking in November was the confiscation of...
Police seize over R80 million worth of drugs in Durban Harbour
Police in KwaZulu-Natal have recovered pure cocaine worth an estimated R80 million after it was found concealed inside a container at the Durban Harbour...
SA taxpayers fork out R2 670 plus per person to deport illegals
Questions posed by parliamentarians in both the National Assembly (NA) and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) brought to light the cost of deporting illegal...
What is happening at South Africa’s borders?
The South African National Defence Force (SANDF), through its Defence Corporate Communications division, last week organised a visit to the Musina border area to...
BMA ready to roll-out safe movement of people and goods over the festive season
The Border Management Authority (BMA) has developed a comprehensive plan to deal with the movement of people and goods across South Africa’s ports of...
Fifty-seven corruption incidents at fledgling SA border control operation
In its first year plus of operation, South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) encountered the scourge of corruption and, according to its responsible Cabinet...
BMA Commissioner calls for private sector involvement to help with SA’s border management
Dr Mike Masiapato, Border Management Authority (BMA) Commissioner, has called for public-private partnerships to improve the management of South Africa’s borders, as the BMA...
Partnerships, technology key to meeting BMA shortfalls
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has acknowledged the Border Management Authority (BMA) is underfunded - by R4.3 billion - and a long way from...
SANDF’s Op Corona records major contraband and drug busts in October
Drug and contraband confiscations and seizures were top of the boards for soldiers deployed on the national border protection tasking Operation Corona in October.
The...
Key stakeholders to convene at South Africa’s Border Management Conference and Expo
On 13 November, the Border Management Authority (BMA) will host the highly anticipated Border Management Conference and Expo, aimed at addressing the multifaceted challenges...
Border Management Conference to explore national security challenges at the border environment
Effective border management is essential to South Africa's national security, economic growth, and social stability. 13 November will see the 2024 Border Management Conference...
Time to act against wildlife crime is now – SA environment minister
South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George maintains wildlife crime has developed into sophisticated, greed-driven enterprises run by international criminal...
SANDF soldiers recover millions of Rands worth of stolen vehicles, drugs in latest border...
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers in Mpumalanga had a busy October doing border protection duty, recovering R3 million worth of stolen vehicles...
National park used as livestock smuggling corridor, Parliamentary committee hears
The protected area that is South Africa’s Golden Gate Highlands National Park is seemingly providing safe passage into Lesotho for livestock thieves and drug...
More police than border guards and soldiers protect SA borders
Border protection in South Africa is a joint responsibility shared between the Border Management Authority (BMA), the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and the...
Customs seizes R25 million worth of cocaine at OR Tambo International Airport
Customs officials of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have made a substantial cocaine bust at the OR Tambo International Airport, with a street...
