-
FILE| A view of Lebombo Border Post.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) says South Africa’s land borders are under severe strain as the festive season return leg enters its final days.
BMA Commissioner Michael Masiapato says more than 25 000 travellers are being processed daily at Beitbridge alone, warning that outdated border infrastructure is struggling to cope.
He says joint operations with law enforcement have helped curb illegal crossings, with over 500 people intercepted at Beitbridge since January.
Masiapoto says the authority will remain on high alert.
“Security is one of the fundamental realities that we deal with during this particular period, and the reason why that becomes fundamental is because any kind of your criminal network will always want to take advantage of this particular period when we have a lot of people traveling. At the same time, they also want to be pushing their own nefarious activities. So, what we do as the Border Management Authority is to bring in other structures to be able to help us, because at the end of the day, the ecosystem is too sophisticated, and therefore we are not able, just exclusively ourselves, to deal with the issues,” adds Masiapato.
BMA enters final phase of its festive season operation amid traveler influx – Dr Michael Masiapato
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBDz-6pDkRo
