Border chaos: too few soldiers, too little tech, warns Gigaba
Parliament’s Defence Committee Chairperson, Dr Malusi Gigaba, has warned that gaps in personnel, equipment, and technology within the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the Border Management Authority (BMA) threaten the country’s ability to secure its borders.
Gigaba said these challenges undermine efforts to prevent illegal migration
Speaking on 702, Gigaba stressed that those entering the country illegally must be prosecuted.
This follows a recent N1 bus crash near Makhado (Louis Trichardt) in Limpopo on October 12, which killed 43 people and left many critically injured.
The bus, traveling from Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) to Harare, was licensed to carry 61 passengers, but investigators from the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) found it was carrying 91, mostly Zimbabweans and Malawians returning home, many without identification.
Gigaba said the issue reflected broader challenges in protecting South Africa’s borders and called for stronger coordination between the National Defence Force, Home Affairs, and the BMA to ensure migration occurs through official ports.
“It’s about the ability of not only the National Defence Force, but other agencies that operate as part of the integrated border management system to maintain the territorial integrity of our country, to prevent the entry into South Africa of undocumented people who have no authorisation to do so,” he said.
He stressed that everyone seeking to enter South Africa should do so through recognised ports of entry and that those who enter illegally must be held accountable.
“Therefore, to ensure that those who have entered the country illegally without requisite documents are held accountable through the existing legal enforcement mechanisms,” Gigaba added.
He highlighted persistent challenges across Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and beyond, citing insufficient personnel, equipment, and technology for both the SANDF and the BMA.
“You do not have enough boots on the ground. You do not have enough numbers of soldiers. They don’t have enough equipment, including technology, to undertake this mammoth task with great competency,” he said.
He added that BMA officers also lack sufficient technological support.
Gigaba also stressed the need for South Africa’s neighbours to cooperate in managing cross-border migration and tackling syndicates moving people and goods illegally.
Reflecting on his time as Home Affairs Minister, he said that adequate resources in the past could have significantly reduced illegal migration.
“If we had provided resources a long time ago, as was requested previously by my predecessors and those who succeeded me, we would have stemmed the tide of this illegal migration,” he said.
Yet he acknowledged improvements, including the establishment of the Border Management Authority, upgraded operations at Beitbridge, and the planned rollout of a “smart border” next year. Despite these steps, he warned that illegal migration remains a pressing challenge.
hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za
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