A R12.5bn game changer against illegal immigration

SOUTH Africa’s bold move to curb illegal immigration and the movement of illicit goods through technology, one-stop border posts, and the upgrade of key land ports of entry has been hailed as a step in the right direction towards curbing the scourge.

- GCWALISILE KHANYILE [e-mail]

This was after the Border Management Authority (BMA), an entity of the Department of Home Affairs, announced successful bidders for the R12.5 billion tender to reconstruct and upgrade the country’s six major ports of entry.

These are Beitbridge, Lebombo, Oshoek, Kopfontein, Maseru Bridge, and Ficksburg, and work is scheduled to start later in 2026 or early 2027. It will be completed in two to three years in different parts.

According to the BMA and Home Affairs, the land ports of entry redevelopment introduces smart border infrastructure, including biometric verification systems, automated processing for travellers, and advanced cargo management technologies.

It incorporates the one-stop border post model, which allows neighbour-ing countries to share facilities and process travellers and goods in a single, integrated space, while separating different types of traffic, such as cargo trucks, buses, taxis, private vehicles, and pedestrians. The government said this would reduce bottlenecks.

BMA Commissioner, Dr Michael Masiapato, said no government money was spent on this Public-Private Partnership project, but the consortiums will raise their own funding through commercial banks. The facilities will be built and operated by consortia for 25 years before handing them over to the state.

Masiapato said solutions to what South Africa considers problems are already being deployed in other jurisdictions, ‘we’ just need to catch up and use the latest technology possible.

“We are talking here about facial recognition, which we will use to process truck drivers when they arrive at the port, without that individual having to get out of the truck. We are talking about technology where we will be scanning trucks moving at 30km per hour, without having to stop at the port,” he said.

Masiapato highlighted that the days of relying on a stamped passport will soon become a thing of the past.