SOUTH Africa’s parliament has passed the Border Management
Authority Bill which seeks to streamline operations at its port of entry and
deal with the issue of border jumpers.
The development comes a few weeks after Pretoria undertook
to modernise some of its ports of entry, among them Beitbridge, where the
One-Stop-Border-Post (OSBP) concept is set to be jointly implemented with
Zimbabwe.
The Chronicle understands that streamlining operation at
Beitbridge and upgrading infrastructure is one of the key requirements to the
successful implementation of the OSBP.
It is envisaged that under the model, people and trucks
will be processed by both countries under one roof. An average of 14 000 people
use Zimbabwe and South Africa’s border post daily.
In a statement, South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Dr
Aaron Motsoaledi said: “The BMA Bill is long overdue. I welcome the passing of
the Bill by the National Assembly. The BMA will enable the country to manage
its borders in a manner that facilitates trade and plugs holes at our porous
borders. These porous borders lead to among others, illegal crossing of people,
illicit goods, drugs, trafficking of people, particularly of women and children
and stolen vehicles.”
He said the authority (BMA) will help simplify the
management of border posts or official gates of entry so as to deal with red
tape by establishing one command structure covering the responsibilities of up
to eight different government agencies which are operating at borders.
Dr Motsoaledi said the Department of Home Affairs has been
preparing for the implementation of the BMA through the Project Management
Office.
“This Project Management Office has been working with other
government departments and agencies to ensure its speedy implementation,” he
said.
Zimbabwe is also finalising plans to operationalise the
National Ports Authority which will manage all the country’s ports of entry and
will fall under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development.
According to Government sources, the NPA is now at the
drafting stage at the Attorney General’s office.
Such a port authority will deal with operations, security,
health, among other issues.
Some of the stakeholders at the border posts include;
Department of Immigration, Insurance companies, Zimra, police and the army
(with varied branches), Prisons, Air Force, ministries of Health, Environmental
Management Authority, Forestry Commission, Transport and Veterinary Services,)
among other security agencies. Chronicle
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