Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
The creation of Border Management Authority (BMA) has helped streamline operations and boost efficiencies at South Africa’s ports of entry (PoE) among them the busiest Beitbridge Border Post which links the neighbouring country with at least seven Sadc countries including Zimbabwe.
The Authority was established in 2020 (Act No2 of 2020) as a national public entity to create a single authority to effect border law enforcement with a single command and control.
Prior to the latest development there were multiple Government agencies implementing various rules and regulations, reporting to different bosses which resulted in delays in the movement of cargo and travellers.
However, the coming in of the BMA has helped address the previously trade and travel deficiencies at port like Beitbridge which handles around seven million travellers yearly and an excess of 1500 commercial trucks daily.
BMA Commissioner and the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Michael Masiapato said in the implementation of about 20 pieces of legislation in the border environment, the Authority has to effectively interface with various government departments and entities.
He made the remarks in Pretoria during the Colloquium on Migration and Border Security on Tuesday.
Dr Masiapato said since its establishment in April 2023, the BMA made significant strides in strengthening border management systems.
“Besides the administrative successes relating to the establishment of the new organisation (staff integration, development of organisational policies, setting up governance structures), there are operational successes that are worth mentioning,” he said.
“We have been able to successfully run Easter 2023, Dec 23/Jan 24, Easter 2024, Dec 24/Jan 25) and now getting ready to run the 2025 Easter festive period in next few weeks)
“In addition we ably handled the movement of heads of States and government technocrats from all over the world & high number of Journalists for BRIC Summit in August 2023- and at the moment we are getting ready to run the G20 Summit in November 2025.
“During the period under review apprehended or arrested over 468 000 individuals who were attempting to enter the country illegally since 1st April 2023 (undocumented, undesirables, or inadmissible).
“We also arrested 2 344 of wanted criminals (of this number 893 linked to other crimes and 1451 linked to the contraventions of immigration related laws)”.
He said they had confiscated a lot or prohibited cargo passing through its land, air and sea post and intercepted 332 stolen vehicles hijacked in South Africa while being transported to several countries through different border posts.
Dr Masiapato said the colloquium was convened to reflect on the BMA’s works in its 24 months of existence (two years) with the intention to generate new proposals on how to improve and escalate our efforts in the mist of constrained fiscus and complicated geopolitical and regional dynamics.
At the same time, this colloquium, he said, was taking place in a year when South Africa will be hosting the G20 summit towards the end of this calendar year in November 2025.
“This will be the first G20 summit held in the African continent and in South Africa in particular. There will be at the time a lot of travellers who will have to be processed through our ports of entry,” he said.
“Discussions on migration and border security that will unfold today will, without doubt, prepare us to deal with the influx of such a high volume of travellers. As we gather here today, we are reminded of the complexities and challenges of managing borders in the 21st century.
“The world is becoming increasingly interconnected, and the movement of people, goods, and services across borders is on the rise. This presents both opportunities and challenges for the BMA and for our stakeholders”.
He said the BMA primarily exists to secure South Africa’s borders and concurrently facilitate legitimate movement of people and goods in all ports of entry and border law enforcement areas.
He said he organisation was working in collaboration with Government departments including; Home Affairs, Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, South African Police Service (SAPS), the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), and the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
Contrary to what some people consider to be the functions of the BMA, Dr Masiapato said their function is not just about stamping passports at the ports of entry, but they play a crucial role in facilitating the smooth movement of people, goods, and services across borders while ensuring the safety and security of the country.
“Some of the key functions include managing environmental, port health, agriculture, immigration and general border law enforcement related issues,” he said.
“We have also screened millions of travellers who destined for South Africa in the last 24 months for infectious and communicable diseases (those we picked up with diseases have been referred to medical facilities for further medical attention) and have also confiscated a lot of undesirable Agricultural products and got them destroyed”.
