The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has said it would be pure chaos on South Africa’s borders if it was not there to patrol them, and regularly seizes contraband, stolen vehicles and undocumented persons, but cautions that more money is required to ensure totally safe borders.
Numerous successes highlight the level of activity on the South African borderline, especially with Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland (the borders with Namibia and Botswana are much quieter in comparison). For example, the Joint Tactical Headquarters for the Mpumalanga region of South Africa has since January this year apprehended 6 462 undocumented persons (UPs), confiscated 875 kg of dagga worth R1.7 million, seized ten firearms, and recovered 89 stolen vehicles worth R28 million. R11.4 million worth of illegal goods was seized and 159 people arrested.
In the Kruger National Park/Sand River area of operations, 400 people have been arrested since January for wildlife crime and 156 weapon confiscated. During this period, 344 rhinos and 65 elephants were poached. Around 70% of poaching groups in the Kruger National Park enter through South Africa and the rest through Mozambique. While most wildlife poaching is focussed on rhino horn, elephant poaching is increasing in the northern parts of the park, with poachers from Mozambique coming into the park for elephant ivory.
defenceWeb spoke to soldiers from 9 South African Infantry Battalion in the Cape, who are deployed in the Macadamia region. They rotated at the beginning of September and since then have apprehended 289 undocumented persons, seized six firearms, R4.7 million worth of contraband goods, five rhino horns, 19 stolen vehicles and R50 000 worth of cigarettes. In addition, R13 000 worth of alcohol has been seized.
A Company is tasked with patrolling Sand River (this base is responsible for 189 km of border in the Kruger National Park); B Company patrols Macadamia (the Macadamia area of operation includes 60 km of the border with Mozambique) and C Company, Zonstraal. Each platoon is deployed on the borderline for four weeks and work with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and SANParks rangers – when stolen vehicles, undocumented people etc. are apprehended they are handed over to the SAPS for processing.
Challenges
The SANDF’s Colonel Martin Gopane outlined the myriad challenges facing the 15 companies of soldiers deployed along South Africa’s borders. These include the movement of undocumented persons and contraband; the illegal crossing of schoolchildren (especially between South Africa and Mozambique); wildlife poaching; people crossing the borders for medical reasons (traditional and Western) and the smuggling of goods, which ranges from counterfeit items to sugarcane and aluminium irrigation pipes as well as wildlife products, drugs, tax-free cigarettes and alcohol.
Different areas of the border are susceptible to different types of activity. On the Swaziland border, for example, issues include the illegal crossing of schoolchildren, the smuggling of dagga, cattle rustling, goods smuggling, illegal mining and the unrestricted movement of people.
Gopane said there is disregard for the ten kilometre demarcation zone from the borderline as locals live right up on the border fence and signal to criminals and undocumented persons when soldiers are in the area – for example they fly different flags to notify the criminals. The criminal networks that operate along the borders often have spotters that monitor troop locations and scope out vehicle crossing points. Sometimes they even cut tracks through the bush for vehicles to cross under the guise of cutting wood.
SANDF officials said the vehicle trafficking syndicates are highly organised and often clone license plates and license disks to match the types of vehicles they are moving to avoid detection. The most commonly seized vehicles are Toyota Fortuners and Hiluxes as well as Ford Rangers as they are suitable for the offroad terrain along the border.
The challenges faced by those tasked with safeguarding South Africa’s borders are exacerbated by the economic decline and political unrest in neighbouring countries and the rest of Africa, the SANDF said. Transnational crimes are focussed on the Swaziland, Mozambique and South African borders. In many instances crime is committed by criminal gangs that originate in Mozambique and Swaziland with the help of local border communities.
With the festive season approaching, more incursions are expected along the borderline as people save up money for the Christmas period. The SANDF said special operations have been planned to counter these incursions. “The best form of defence is offensive operations,” Gopane said.
Tough job
The SANDF took a contingent of media to the SA/Mozambique border to see first-hand the situation along the borderline. Soldiers face a tough time during their deployments, sleeping in small tents with no amenities, managing often extremely hot weather and dangerous wildlife. At the same time they must be constantly vigilant and on the lookout for illegal activity.
The areas in which soldiers are deployed often has extremely difficult terrain that is only passable with 4×4 vehicles, but even these take a beating – tyres typically last three months and it is normal for vehicles to have multiple flat tyres in a single day. Gopane urged private companies not to overcharge the SANDF for new tyres as some companies want R13 000 for an offroad tyre rather than the standard R4 000 when they hear the recipient is the military.
Troops on the border have been receiving Toyota Hilux vehicles configured for carrying a stick of soldiers (aptly called Mobility Packages) and these have ensured access and mobility on the border for both patrol and logistics.
Bad fencing
A common complaint from soldiers on the border is the ease with which criminals cut the fence and cross over – the border fences used to be electrified but no longer are, making it much easier for them to be taken down. The Kruger National Park has good fences as these are largely paid for by SANParks but other areas of the border have fences in very poor condition.
Around the Komatiepoort border crossing, there are multiple holes in the fence where people pass through on well-worn tracks. defenceWeb witnessed several people crossing from Mozambique to South Africa in spite of the fact that soldiers were deployed just hundreds of metres away, while another group of crossers was deterred by the presence of SANDF vehicles.
The Department of Public Works is responsible for maintaining the border fence but in reality does little work on the fence. The SANDF has resorted to digging ditches and putting down old railway sleepers and pieces of rail to deter vehicles from crossing the border. In some areas it has also placed large rocks to keep vehicles from crossing, with a fair measure of success.
Brigadier General Mafi Mgobozi, SANDF spokesman, said the SANDF does not have enough resources to effectively patrol the border and said more money is needed to deploy more companies – previous plans called for over 20 companies but there is no budget for this. Mgobozi said the government can’t tell soldiers to protect the border but not give them the funding to carry out their mission.
