Police versus home affairs: A turf war is brewing

City Press – 18 January 2023

It’s only been a few months since the formation of the much-vaunted Border Management Authority (BMA), but there is already a tense stand-off between the new force and the SA Police Service (SAPS).

The specialised BMA force was established in terms of the Border Management Authority Act with the specific mandate to protect ports of entry into South Africa.

Launched in July last year, it boasts 200 members, with another 400 to follow in the coming months.

However, City Press understands that the SAPS top brass are refusing to remove their officers from the notorious Beitbridge border post between Zimbabwe and South Africa, which is known to be so corrupt that the movement of illicit goods and the trafficking of people is commonplace.

BMA sources told City Press that border guards at Beitbridge were getting resistance from police officers who previously had the responsibility of protecting the port of entry. The officers are allegedly reluctant to hand over access control operations to the new guards, who have the same powers that the police do under law.

It is believed that the resistance stems from the fact that some of the entrenched officers have interests in the transportation of illegal goods and immigrants between Zimbabwe and South Africa.

A well-placed source said: 

We have good reason to believe that some of the taxis and buses that transport undocumented people coming from Zimbabwe into South Africa are owned by SAPS officers. The border guards are clamping down and, when they do so, they are finding huge resistance from the police officers.

A senior immigration officer at the department of home affairs said the police officers were “reluctant to get out and let the border guards take over”.

Another official stationed at the Beitbridge border said it was an open secret that there were police officers working at the post who live above-average lifestyles.

“Some openly brag about the size of the homes and number of taxis and buses they have here in Limpopo. So, it would be of no surprise that the kind of shift and relocation of people required to have a full takeover of border security is shaking everyone with one illegal arrangement or another,” said the official.

IMMIGRANTS COME THROUGH BOTSWANA

Speaking to City Press this week, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the BMA guards were already making an impression in collaboration with other law enforcement authorities.

Motsoaledi said he had not been made aware of the icy relationship between the police and border guards.

The minister said he was eagerly awaiting the deployment of 400 more border guards, after receiving information that Botswana was fast becoming the new hotspot for smuggling and moving undocumented immigrants.

Motsoaledi said:

Their operations at Beitbridge are so effective that people who are coming into the country illegally are now running to enter through other border crossings, such as the one between us and Botswana

He said there weren’t many guards at that border, “since we didn’t have problems with Botswana”.

“When we deploy border guards, most of them are sent to Beitbridge because that’s where the problem is. It was just last week that I was informed that people who are coming in illegally are now using Botswana. So, that’s why we need to increase guard numbers so that they [immigrants coming into the country illegally] don’t find any place where we don’t have enough border guards. That’s why I’m eagerly awaiting the deployment of the 400 border guards.”

POLICE INSIST THEY BELONG AT THE BORDER POST

Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the police and the border guards were working well together at all 72 ports of entry across the country. She insisted that SAPS officers would remain at their respective posts.

Mathe said:

The SAPS took a decision that the functions performed by the police at the ports would not be transferred to the BMA, which means that police at the ports will continue to be present to perform policing duties as mandated by the Constitution in terms of section 205

“It must be mentioned that, as things stand, the police, in cooperation with the other departments that are deployed at the ports, are working to curb cross-border crimes as per their mandate. The police are not working alone at the ports.

“So, police officers will continue [to work] at border ports to execute their mandate alongside the other departments, including the guards of the BMA. The deployment of the guards is not to replace the police at ports.”

BMA IS THE ‘THIRD ARMED FORCE’

Motsoaledi disputed this, saying that the BMA Act gives the commissioner of the border authority the same status as the commissioner of police, and gives BMA guards the same powers as the men and women in blue.

He said that “South Africa has a third armed force”, in addition to the police and the defence force.

“The only difference is that the police commissioner covers a bigger pool of resources across the country, while the BMA commissioner focuses on crime fighting as well as border security and management at our ports of entry.”

Motsoaledi said Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola had given the border guards a certificate declaring them a crime-fighting unit in their own right, meaning that they are a law enforcement agency.

“Before that, they could only stop you at the border and they could only arrest you in the presence of the police. If there were no police officers, then they couldn’t make an arrest.”

COMMISSIONER HAILS BREAKTHROUGHS

BMA commissioner Mike Masiapato confirmed that the increased visibility of the border guards had led to, among other things, the interception of 5 433 undocumented travellers.

After the undocumented travellers were processed and had had their fingerprints taken, they were deported to their home countries.

Masiapato said that, since the deployment of the border guards last year, a total of 29 stolen vehicles had been recovered and handed over to SAPS detectives for further investigation.

Masiapato said:

Border guards further intercepted undeclared cash to the value of R488 163 across ports. That was also handed over to the SAPS for investigating in connection with money laundering

Motsoaledi said they were waiting for the finance minister to issue an allocation letter to the BMA to start the recruitment process of the next 400 border guards.

“We know that the finance minister announced the allocation. We are now simply waiting to receive an allocation letter from National Treasury and, once that comes through, we will kick-start the process of recruiting the people who are going to take over the posts.”

He said another milestone achieved by the BMA since its inception was getting warring trucking companies at Beitbridge and at the Lebombo border post between South Africa and Mozambique to work together for the first time during peak travelling season.

“The commissioner and the trucking organisations had lengthy meetings, whereas in the past, instead of cooperating, they would compete with each other and stop each other from operating. In essence, they were pulling each other back and didn’t realise that everyone was losing,” Motsoaledi said.

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