Siyabonga Sithole
Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, will tomorrow unveil a new border management system and the first cohort of 200 border guards whose work will bring an end to illegal immigration and border activities.
The minister, who will be hosting an event at the Beitbridge border in Musina, Limpopo, says the newly established Border Management Authority (BMA) which the country’s newest and single authority system established through the BMA of 2020 will from April 1, 2023 become a fully established authority tasked with all interventions by the department of home affairs to curb border crimes while also ensuring cross-border trade happens optimally.
In a recent statement before the unveiling ceremony, the minister said this will be done through an integration of five streams of functions across various government departments including the department of home affairs, forestry and fisheries, agriculture, rural development and health with access control functions conducted by the SAPS.
“The main advantage of BMA is that it introduces a single command and control structure.
“This will tighten border management by implementing an integrated and co-ordinated approach in the border management environment. When fully functional, the BMA will play a pivotal role tackling border security challenges impacting on the country and its neighbours, such as unco-ordinated traveller processing, cross-border criminality, illegal crossings and undue delays in the facilitation in the movement of goods and services,” the minister said.
He said the soon to be launched interventions by the department would pave way for the creation of smart border posts and systems as well as advanced trade facilitation in the region.
The new system is an improvement of the previous multi-agency system and comes just when the department is riddled with the problem of illegal immigration and criminality across the country’s borders.