AfriForum demands clarity about activities of border guards
The civil rights organisation AfriForum has raised its concern about the activities of the so-called border guards deployed by the Border Management Authority (BMA). The organisation has submitted a Public Access to Information Act (PAIA) request to the Department of Home Affairs, requesting details about the guards’ successes to date.
The BMA guards were hastily deployed recently under very questionable circumstances.
Shortly thereafter, AfriForum informed the BMA that the deployment of these guards was unlawful, seeing as the relevant legislation was not yet gazetted.
Despite the fact that this legislation is not yet in place, the BMA guards were deployed to various border areas and were actively stopping and searching vehicles and were also issued with firearms. The legislation was then quietly published in the Government Gazette.
AfriForum also raised concerns about the rushed training these guards received as well as the manner in which the guards were sourced.
In its PAIA application, AfriForum asks for the following information:
– The records indicating the number of arrests of suspects made by the BMA guards at all border ports of entry, including the dates of arrests.
– The records indicating the number of undocumented migrants intercepted by the BMA at all border ports of entry, including the dates of these interceptions.
– The records indicating the quantity of stolen and recovered vehicles, livestock, firearms, and ammunition intercepted by the BMA at all border ports of entry, including the dates of which items were seized.
– The records indicating the number of vetting files referred versus the number vetting files completed of BMA employees since its inception.
– The records indicating the number of BMA guards that have completed firearms competency.
“The lack of border control in South Africa is a large contributing factor to crime nationally and especially border communities are taking the brunt of this lawlessness. It’s a serious issue that needs serious solutions and not some public relations stunt by the BMA by deploying unqualified, poorly trained and unvetted guards,” says Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s spokesperson for Community Safety.
“According to our sources, many of these border guards are already participating in corruption and bribery — a situation that could have been avoided had the necessary processes been followed when these guards were sourced and vetted,” concludes Broodryk.
