By Karabo Ngoepe
ESWATINI’S neighbour, South Africa has extended border operations for the festive seasons to ease the flow of people and goods.
South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) during the week announced measures to tackle numerous challenges and improve travellers’ experience.
BMA Commissioner Dr Michael Masiapato said South Africa was confronted with a range of complex border-related challenges which include issues of illegal migration, sophisticated cross-border crimes, and the smuggling of illicit goods into the country, amongst others.
He said all these realities continue to strain their resources and undermine South Africa’s national security, economic growth and the zeal for the realization of regional economic integration.
Masiapato added that to tackle the issues, the neighbouring countries needed to work together.
“It is for these reasons that South Africa and its neighbouring countries need to establish a robust and integrated resourced border management platform free from criminal activities,” he said.
The BMA is responsible for the facilitation and management of the legitimate movement of people and goods through 71 ports of entry, of which 52 are land ports of entry, 10 international airports and 9 seaports.
Managing those ports will present numerous challenges as jurisdictions across the world experience a significant increase in the movement of persons and goods at their ports of entry and border law enforcement areas during the festive period.
He said South Africa was not immune to this reality, and it is on this basis that the BMA had to coordinate and manage the development of a comprehensive plan for implementation by various stakeholders in the border environment.
“Just for historical context during the December-January festive season, in the pre-Covid period of 2019/2020, the BMA facilitated about 6.3 million people across our various ports of entry.
The numbers decreased in the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 period to about 1.6 million due to Covid restrictions. However, in the 2022/2023 period, we recovered to above 4 million people. The recovery continued in 2023/2024 to above 5 million people. So, this time around, we anticipate a full recovery to the pre-Covid number of more than 6 million people,” Mosiapato said.
“Over the years, our top ten ports of entry which facilitate the majority of the people have always been OR Tambo International airport in Johannesburg, Beit Bridge land port to Zimbabwe, Lebombo land port to Mozambique, Caledonspoort, Ficksburg and Maseru Bridge land ports to Lesotho, Cape Town International airport in the Western Cape, Oshoek land port to Eswatini, as well as Kopfontein, and Groblers’ Bridge land port to Botswana.Therefore, during the development of this plan, this historical trend was taken into consideration especially when considering areas requiring the deployment of additional resources.”
Discussions
He said during the planning phase, they conducted extensive inter-jurisdictional discussions with six immediate neighbouring countries of Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Eswatini and Botswana to streamline border processes and coordinate work modalities for this period.
“As a result, we have agreed to adjust operating hours at some of the key ports which do not operate on a 24-hour basis. To this end, the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber has approved our request to extend the operating hours at the following ports,” he said.
|
Country |
Ports of Entry |
Current Hours |
Extended Hours |
Periods/Dates |
|
BOTSWANA |
Groblersbridge |
06:00 – 22:00 |
06:00 – 00:00 |
13,14,20, 21 Dec 2024 |
|
Swartkopfontein |
07:00 – 19:00 |
06:00 – 20:00 |
20 -24 Dec,2024 27- 31 Dec,2024 06 -13 Jan 2025 |
|
|
MOZAMBIQUE |
Kosibay |
08:00–17:00 |
06:00-18:00 |
15 Dec 2024 & 15 Jan 2025 |
|
ESWATINI |
Mahamba |
07:00 – 22:00 |
07:00-00:00 |
23-24 Dec 2024 |
|
Jeppes Reef |
07:00 – 20:00 |
07:00-22:00 |
23-24 Dec 2024 |
|
|
Mananga |
07:00 – 18:00 |
07:00-20:00 |
20-24 Dec 2024 |
|
|
LESOTHO
|
Sanipass |
06:00 – 18:00 |
06:00-20:00 |
21-24 Dec 2024 |
|
Caledonspoort |
06:00 – 22:00 |
06:00-00h00 |
13, 20, 23 Dec 2024 02, 05 Jan 2025 |
|
|
06:00 – 22:00 |
24 hours |
24 Dec 2025 |
||
|
Van Rooyensgate |
06:00 – 22:00 |
06:00-00:00 |
13, 20, 23 Dec 2024 02, 05 Jan 2025 |
|
|
06:00 – 22:00 |
24 hours |
24 Dec 2025 |
||
|
Monontsa Pass |
08:00 – 16:00 |
08:00-18:00 |
13, 20, 23, 24 Dec 2024 |
|
|
02, 05 Jan 2025 |
||||
|
Pekabridge |
08:00 – 16:00 |
08:00-18:00 |
13, 20, 23, 24 Dec 2024 02, 05 Jan 2025 |
Masiapato added that in addition to the extension of operating hours, they would also be deploying 69 additional personnel at the selected busiest ports of entry to assist with the delivery of services and provision of technical support to the regular staff members.
He said the deployment of the 400 Junior Border guards from June 2024 in addition to the previously deployed 200 Border Guards has improved the BMA’s operational capacity by providing additional resources on the ground to strengthen security through streamlined access control into the ports.
“In addition, the BMA has already deployed members of the coastal guards to the critical areas of the selected harbours for the implementation of border law enforcement functions. The BMA will also be collaborating with the Western Cape Provincial Government and the City of Cape Town to increase capacity at the Cape Town International Airport. This capacity augmentation will be made up of 60 Peace Officers as an addition to the immigration functions at the airport. On account of our Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with INTERPOL, in this festive period, the respective Port Management Committees will collaborate with INTERPOL and SAPS in joint operations to combat various cross-border crimes,” he said.
Masiapato added that during the Execution phase, their focus will be the delivery of integrated, effective and efficient processes at the Ports of Entry where only legitimate people and goods would be allowed to enter and exit South Africa.
To achieve this, ports of entry and the vulnerable segments of the borderline would be adequately guarded to intercept any transgressor.
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“With Operation Vala Mgodi unfolding, the Border Guards remain vigilant and prepared to intercept the deported illegal miners and deter them from attempting to illegally re-enter South Africa. In this period, we have also intensified measures to detect and seize illicit goods such as narcotics, and stolen vehicles. We therefore want to warn all travellers to desist from committing any act of criminality around the ports of entry and at the border law enforcement areas as they will be detected, arrested, and then deported,” he said.
Food poisoning
Masiapato also tackled the recent scourge of food poisoning in South Africa where numerous school children have fallen victim.
He said considering the current challenges of food contamination and the subsequent instructions from President Cyril Ramaphosa, the BMA issued an operational instruction to all ports of entry to intensify efforts to detect and intercept any attempt to illegally import organophosphate pesticides, specifically Aldicarb which is a banned substance in South Africa and Terbufos, which is another harmful substance similarly posing significant risks to human life.
“The instructions include increased vigilance and guidelines for recognising the substances’ common physical characteristics, packaging methods, and potential smuggling concealment tactics. As such, the handling protocols have been given to our biosecurity experts for implementation across all ports of entry,” he said.
In November, Ramaphosa ordered the removal of hazardous pesticides off the streets and shops as one of the measures to curb food poisoning which killed 23 children.
“Since the beginning of September 2024, there have been a total of 890 reported incidents of food-borne illnesses across all provinces,’’ Ramaphosa said in a televised address.
Ramaphosa said several people have become severely ill and even died after eating contaminated food that could have been purchased from spaza shops — small informal shops — and street vendors.
South Africa recorded a major poisoning incident in Naledi, Soweto in October where six children died after buying snacks at spaza shops. The youngest was 6 years old.
Ramaphosa said after scientific tests were conducted it was established that the deaths of the six children could be directly attributed to a highly hazardous chemical used as a pesticide known as Terbufos.
Terbufos, registered in South Africa for agricultural use, is said to have serious health effects, even at low levels of exposure.
Ramaphosa said although Terbufos is not allowed to be sold for general household use it is being informally sold as a so-called “street pesticide” for domestic use in townships and informal settlements to control rats.
He said samples from 84 spaza shops in the Naledi area of Soweto showed three shops had evidence of Terbufos. It was also found that in some spaza shops pesticides and detergents were being stored next to food items.
Ramaphosa said the spaza shops that have been implicated in the deaths of the children will be closed immediately.
He also ordered all spaza shops and other food handling facilities to be registered within the municipalities in which they operate within 21 days and they should meet all health standards and requirements or they will be closed.
Road Traffic
Masiapato added that on the corridors leading to the land ports of entry, the management of traffic flow will be done in collaboration with the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), the Cross Border Road Transport Agency (CBRTA) and the respective traffic authorities in the relevant South African provinces.
“Historically, traffic congestions have been our common problem during this period, particularly on the N1 corridor towards Beit Bridge border post to Zimbabwe and also on the N4 corridor towards Lebombo border post to Mozambique. As a result, there are specific traffic management contingencies which will be implemented for Beitbridge and Lebombo in particular.”
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“This includes the implementation of targeted process flows through the segregation of passenger vehicles, taxis, buses and cargo conveyancers with clear signage, barricades and marshalling activities.
We would like to urge all drivers to observe all traffic laws and comply with instructions from traffic officers when redirected to certain channels towards the ports of entry,” he said.
Immigration
He appealed to all travellers leaving and or entering South Africa to ensure that all their travel documents are in order – to avoid any unnecessary delays at the ports of entry.
He said as required by international protocols, all travellers should be in possession of a valid machine-readable passport and a valid visa where applicable.
“Furthermore, travellers are reminded that their passports should have at least one empty page in order to enable the BMA immigration team members to accordingly stamp the passports as required. This message is also relevant during the return leg in January 2025 as all travellers are expected to present themselves at the designated ports of entry to enter South Africa. As for those wishing to cross the border using a financed vehicle, they should be in possession of the letter from their financing institution authorising them to exit the country with the vehicle,” he said.
Child Travel
South Africa has strict travel requirements when it comes to commuting with children. Masiapato said that parents wishing to travel with minor children are reminded to carry the child’s Unabridged Birth Certificate unless the child’s details are endorsed in the parent’s passport.
“In cases where one parent is travelling with a child in the absence of another parent, a consent letter from the absent parent granting permission to the other parent to exit the country with the child will be required. This requirement is mainly applicable to South Africans intending to exit the country with children. Considering the expected high volumes in this festive period, we would like to appeal to all travellers to plan their travel early and excise patience on the roads towards ports,” he said.
Illegal Entry
He warned people who would try to cross borders illegally in January at the end of the holidays. He said during the return leg in January 2025, all individuals who might be planning to try to enter South Africa illegally, that the Border Guards working together with members of the SANDF would be waiting for them.
“Whilst awaiting the delivery of our drones, in this Festive Season we have forged a partnership with the Department of Agriculture,
Land Reform and Rural Development which will be deploying their drones to assist us with an enhanced level of border security and domain awareness at the problematic vulnerable segments, the ports and the corridors. Drone operations will be supported by mobile reaction units which would be situated at, or closer to the ports of entry to allow for quick reaction and apprehension of illegal migrants and other cross-border criminals,” he said.