Border Management Authority only for official points of entry?

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While no exact date has yet been set for it to become operational, the Border Management Authority (BMA) is proceeding through the labyrinth that is Parliament and its committees with the latest development being the referral of customs differences to the Department of Home Affairs and National Treasury.

This is an example of the multitude of government agencies and departments involved in border control in its widest sense and this time is about “differing opinions” as regards legislating SA Revenue Service” functions into the BMA Bill.

It is, according to Democratic Alliance shadow home affairs minister Haniff Hoosen, an example of just how fragmented border control issues are and at the 72 legal points of entry into South Africa. He said there are at least 18 entities, in the form of government departments and agencies, currently working at these points of entry.

He told defenceWeb it appears the newest addition to the country’s list of regulatory agencies will, when it becomes operational, be in control only at demarcated points of entry. This includes airports such as OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka as well as ports including Durban, Cape Town and Richards Bay and land-based entry points such as Lebombo, Giriyondo, Sendelingsdrift and Oshoek.

The thousands of kilometres of land border currently the responsibility of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) will continue to be patrolled by soldiers in thin-skinned vehicles and on foot, supported by elements of the SA Air Force (SAAF).

Hoosen points out the intended functions of the BMA are to facilitate and manage the legitimate movement of people and goods in border law enforcement areas and ports of entry relating to customs, immigration and law enforcement. There is no mention of the wider South African border such as the land border between Beit Bridge and Giriyondo as one example. Apart from a comment made three years ago by Minister in the Presidency, Jeff Radebe, with regard to the establishment of a border guard and a coast guard when he was speaking about the BMA, it appears there will be no military involvement, other than as is presently the case at recognised points of entry.

According to Hoosen, funding for the BMA is currently estimated at R22 billion, but this has not yet been supported by National Treasury.

A DA position paper on the BMA points out at least some of the functions performed at points of entry can by undertaken and executed by the SANDF in terms of its existing constitutional mandate with additional funding of approximately R3 billion. No mention is made of the border protection tasking Operation Corona that currently has 15 companies deployed along South Africa’s land borders.

Addressing a provincial security conference in Mpumalanga earlier this month State Security Minister David Mahlobo noted that “illegal migration and the irregular movement of commodities remain a foremost challenge in all dimensions of securing and managing our border, including the borders of Mpumalanga with Swaziland”.

The border mentioned by the Minister regularly features in statistics on the amount of contraband confiscated and illegal immigrants handed to Home Affairs by soldiers doing border protection duty.

The SANDF plan is to ultimately have 22 companies deployed on South Africa’s landward borders. There are currently 15, the majority from SA Army Reserve Force units. This deployment, along with other tasks set for the military by government, is hamstrung by a shrinking defence budget.