The organisation meant to secure South Africa’s borders and control the movement of people and goods into and out of the country is short of R4.35bn in funding over the next three years.
This shortage means the Border Management Authority (BMA) cannot employ sufficient staff to meet its requirements and invest in the technology used by border authorities globally.
Critics have frequently raised alarm at what they call “porous” borders which facilitate the influx of illegal immigrants and goods into SA.
The BMA, which was formally established in 2023, is responsible for border law enforcement related to port health, immigration control, access control, biosecurity, food safety and phytosanitary control, and land border infrastructure at all 71 of the country's land, air and maritime ports of entry.
Its establishment created a single command and control structure and replaced the previous multi-agency system that included the SA Revenue Service. the SA Police Services, the SA National Defence Force, and the national government departments of home affairs, agriculture, land reform & rural development, and forestry, fisheries & environment.
In a written reply to a parliamentary question by DA MP Adrian Roos, home affairs minister Leon Schreiber said the shortfall in funding was a result of the BMA not receiving the full amount requested from the National Treasury.
All government departments have suffered from fiscal constraints.
The BMA was allocated R1.3bn in 2023/24 and is estimated to get R1.4bn in 2024/25, R1.47bn in 2025/26 and R1.54bn in 2026/27. The Treasury estimates its total staff complement at 2,675 by 2026/27.
Another reason for the shortfall, Schreiber said, was that transferring departments had only transferred an accurate budget to pay staff salaries, but not the full budget for goods and services. The R4.35bn shortfall over three years included R3.2bn for human resources, R757m for information, communication and technology and R350m for tools and trade.
Schreiber pointed out that the total human resource structure for the BMA was 11,115 but at the end of June 2024 only 2,566 positions were filled, leaving 8,549 posts vacant.
“As per the approved organisational structure, the area of focus for urgent capacitation is the ports of entry, including the critical support positions, which are critical for governance purposes,” he said.
Regarding the investment required in information, communication and technology, he noted countries were recognising and acknowledging the crucial role technology plays in enhancing national security in border management.
“Statistics show that many countries are investing in technologies that aim to streamline and bring efficiency in the entry and exit processes while balancing that with national security.
“This includes technologies such as satellite surveillance systems and drones for detecting migrants that try to illegally enter their countries. The efforts/investments are an indication that globally countries acknowledge that at the centre of resolving borderline challenges is technology.”
Schreiber said the BMA was aligned with this trend and understood that to execute its mandate it needed to invest in technology that would assist in automating processes and increase efficiencies within the ports of entry. However, the authority was constrained by a lack of funding.
Urgent investments in ICT infrastructure were needed.
The BMA applied to the department of constitutional development and justice for the release of R500m from the criminal assets recovery account after its request for a R2.9bn allocation for the 2023/24 financial year was turned down by the Treasury and only R150m was approved.
This was used to buy specialised capital equipment, including patrol vehicles, firearms and ammunition, communication devices, body-worn cameras, surveillance equipment, forensic technology, motion sensors and drive-through vehicle/truck scanners.
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