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BMA Fact Sheet

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WHAT IS THE BORDER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY (BMA)?

On the 21st of July 2020, the Border Management Authority (BMA) Bill was Gazetted into law. The BMA Act aims to strengthen border control and give the Authority effective control at the ports of entry and within the border law enforcement area. In other words, the BMA will implement all border law enforcement functions across the land, air and maritime ports of entry and border law enforcement areas.

Border management in South Africa (SA) is currently exercised through collaborative efforts between some multiple organs of state. These organs of state perform functions in respect of individual mandates set out in a range of different pieces of legislation. Presently, about 9000 state officials, from at least six organs of state (Department of Home Affairs, the South African Revenue Service, Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the South African Police Service and the Department of Health), are directly working at the country’s 72 Ports of Entry.

While coordination mechanisms exist, there is an agreement that more needs to be done to address the current systemic and structural management fragmentation. 

This is necessary to improve efficiencies and effectiveness and to balance the facilitation of trade and travel whilst ensuring the country’s security.

The Border Management Authority (BMA) provides a sustainable solution to the structural and systemic challenges of border security, control and coordination by offering a new model of integration of the current disparate functions, roles and

responsibilities of the various organs of state operating in the border law enforcement environment. The integrated approach will result in a single chain of command and control, and resources will be pulled together under one umbrella to ensure the optimisation of funds allocated to border management activities.

The BMA is an organ of state established as a national public entity in terms of Schedule 3A of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), 1999, outside of the public service but within public administration, and as an armed service in terms of section 199(3) of the Constitution.

A single line of authority for border law enforcement operations at Ports of Entry and within the border law enforcement area which has the potential for more cost effective and efficient services. This includes the integration of immigration, port health, environmental, agricultural, as well as access control functions into the BMA.
A formalised relationship between the BMA and relevant organs of state should enhance security and management of the border environment.
Improvement in shared information to create a coordinated and secure border environment intelligence.
A focused approach to optimising Port of Entry operations and processes to enhance efficiencies through maximum compliance and minimum administrative costs and delays.
Effective utilization of financial, human, infrastructure resources in implementing border management functions at a Port of Entry that will replace multiple frontline border management authorities.
Improvement in management, discipline and transparency with a single line of command at Port of Entry level and the entire border law enforcement area.
Improvement in management, discipline and transparency with a single line of command at Port of Entry level and the entire border law enforcement area.
Creation of customer service efficiencies through streamlined, integrated operations at the Ports of Entry. It is important to note that the departments and agencies that have mandates concerning the border environment still retain the overarching policy and legislative mandates. The BMA will implement the policy of the principal organs of state through the transfer of operational functions performed at the frontline – as well as the authority mandated by the BMA legislation.

WHAT WERE THE CHALLENGES OF THE CURRENT MULTI-AGENCY APPROACH IN BORDER MANAGEMENT?

WHAT WERE THE CHALLENGES OF A MULTI-AGENCY APPROACH IN BORDER MANAGEMENT?

The fragmented approach to the coordination of border management activities has encountered a number of adverse consequences, i.e.

Different conditions of service and remuneration and different command structures for state officials working at Ports of Entry;
Competing priorities and deliverables between Organs of State who are operational in the border environment;
Different tools of trade and equipment existed and were used between organs of state;
Corruption by some officials and limited information sharing amongst Organs of State based at Ports of Entry.

DID THE BMA TAKE CHARGE OF ALL PORTS OF ENTRY AT ONCE?

Careful planning informed the roadmap that guided the establishment of the BMA, including the risks and benefits of the incremental and bing-bang approaches. Given more than a decade lost in the legislative negotiation, as well as the current climate
in the country’s border law enforcement environment, the BMA was operationalized by 1 st April 2023, by which time it is expected to have been listed as a Schedule 3A Public Entity outside the public service but reporting to the Minister of Home Affairs and the Inter-Ministerial Consultative Committee on Border Management. The complexity and unprecedented nature of the multiple tasks, organisations, regulatory, staffing and budgeting matters involved cannot be
understated.

WHEN DID THE BMA BECOME OPERATIONAL?

The BMA is already established and an enabling legal framework has been developed. To date, the following milestones have been achieved in the operationalization of the BMA:

A Commissioner and two Deputy Commissioners were appointed at the end of the 2021.
200 Border Guards were appointed and deployed at identified segments of the land border law enforcement area.
The process to finalise Section 97 proclamations is at an advanced stage. Concurrence on the border law enforcement functions to be transferred to the BMA has been obtained from the Ministers of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development; Health; and Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (as final step towards Presidential gazetting of the Section 97 Proclamation). Frontline immigration functions have been delegated to the BMA by the Minister of Home Affairs as the Section 97 Proclamation does not apply. Discussions are underway with SAPS on the transfer of resources for access control at Ports of Entry. Discussions are also underway with DPWI in respect of the transfer of infrastructure assets and liabilities to the BMA.
The logo for the BMA was approved by both the Ministers of Home Affairs and Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).
The BMA was established as an autonomous Schedule 3A Public Entity on the 1st of April 2023

MANY BORDER COORDINATING STRUCTURES WERE PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED, WHAT WILL BE DIFFERENT ABOUT THE BMA?

The dominant approach to border management and border control between 1994 and 2018 was based on the “coordinated border management approach”. Over this period, the following coordination structures and modalities were put in place and have been operational to ensure cooperation in the implementation of border management and border control:
Border Affairs Coordinating Committee (BACC) (1996);
National Inter-Departmental Structure (NIDS) (1997);
Border Control Operational Coordinating Committee (BCOCC) (2001)
Inter-Agency Clearing Forum (IACF) (2010);
National Border Management Coordinating Committee (NBMCC) (2013).

There are many lessons learned from failures and successes since the advent of democracy in 1994. One such lesson is the attempt to coordinate the various government departments and agencies in the border management environment in the absence of binding legislation.

The coordination model made it voluntary for departments to participate in border management coordinating structures. Meanwhile, in line with international practice, South Africa needed a bold integrated approach to border management under the prevailing democratic dispensation.

The integrated approach seeks to address and ensure safe and legitimate human movement, the rights of migrants, the country’s national interests, fair trade facilitation, environmental protection, biodiversity imperatives and the realisation of the global, African and domestic development goals.

HOW WILL BMA AFFECT THE WORK OF GOVERNMENT, TRAVELLERS, TRADERS AND OTHER COUNTRIES?

Government will have a single accountable command and control organ of state across the entire border environment.
Travelers will experience a more efficient and secure facilitation process at all Ports of Entry.
Traders will benefit from interacting with a single border law enforcement entity at ports of entry.
Other countries and multi-lateral organisations will also have a single nodal point of interaction regarding frontline border law enforcement.

WILL THE BMA TAKE CHARGE OF ALL PORTS OF ENTRY AT ONCE?

Careful planning has informed the roadmap that guided the establishment of the BMA, including the risks and benefits of the incremental and bing-bang approaches.

Given more than a decade lost in the legislative negotiation, as well as the current climate in the country’s border law enforcement environment, the BMA will be fully operationalized by 1st April 2023, by which time it is expected to have been listed as a Schedule 3A Public Entity outside the public service but reporting to the Minister of Home Affairs and the Inter-Ministerial Consultative Committee on Border Management.

The complexity and unprecedented nature of the multiple tasks, organisations, regulatory, staffing and budgeting matters involved cannot be understated.

WHAT WILL BE THE KEY FUNCTIONS OF THE BORDER GUARDS?

As articulated in Section 5 of the BMA Act, the role of the Border Guards will be as follows:
Conduct searches to ensure that only authorised medications and other health related substances are allowed through the PoE, including any medical testing where necessary.
Conduct searches to ensure that only authorised agricultural and environmental related materials are allowed through the PoE.
Conduct all immigration related functions which include ensuring that all travelers have all the necessary documentation to either enter or exit South Africa.
Conduct basic access control in and out of the PoE to ensure the complete observation of law and order in the POE area.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BORDER GUARDS

There are several informal community crossing points along the borderline such as Mbuzini, Tshidilamolomo, Gate 6 and others. These are areas where one community (often with one Chief) straddles national borders. It is therefore envisioned that the Border Guards should conduct basic access control in those crossing points.

At the various vulnerable segments of the borderline, the Border Guards are expected to conduct patrols and intercept individuals who for various reasons avoid using the dedicated PoEs and opt to enter and exit the country via the borderline. Border Guards are expected to enforce compliance to the overall immigration laws at the border law enforcement area and process all illegal migrants for deportation to their respective countries of origin.