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The BMA officials checking cars before crossing the border.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) says since its inception in 2023, it has achieved major success in intercepting illegal entries and preventing the smuggling of vehicles out of the country.
The authorities attributed this success to collaboration between the BMA, law enforcement, traffic agencies, and state security, among others.
The Authority’s Commissioner, Dr Michael Masiapato, briefed the media in Pretoria today.
“If we were to look at incremental figures, the border guards had been able to stop around 505,065 individuals from entering the country illegally since the deployment of the first contingent in July 2022. So that is the representation of what we describe as an incremental figure. In addition, in the same quarter, about 15 high-powered stolen vehicles were intercepted as criminal syndicates attempted to smuggle them out of the country.”
Media briefing on festive season operational plan for 2025/26 festive period:
Festive Season
At the briefing, Masiapato also spoke about how the BMA has put arrangements in place to help it deal with the busy festive period.
The BMA says that during the last two festive seasons, foreign travellers dominated cross-border movement in South Africa.
At least 70% foreign and 30% South African of the 4.5 million travellers were processed in the 2024-2025 festive season.
Masiapato says they also arrested more than eight thousand people, mostly from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, attempting to enter the country illegally in the second quarter of this year.
