Leonard Neill THE OPENING of a new border post between South Africa and Namibia on the northern Cape side last Friday marked the start of a multi-million rand project to refurbish or rebuild all of the country’s border posts. Nakop, the name given to the post which replaces the former Naroegos, was chosen as the first in this national project because of what national police commissioner Jackie Selebi described as ‘appalling conditions’ at the previous facility. Staff slept in park homes four metres from the national highway, and in many instances observed the ‘hot bed’ system, whereby a person coming off duty would occupy the bed of the on-going duty officer because of the lack of accommodation. “The staff had to drive 50km to fill a water tank for their drinking and washing needs,” Selebi told FTW. “The tank was leaking when I saw it and was only half full when it reached the base.” The new post cost R36m, jointly funded by the four departments Ð police, home affairs (immigration), SARS (customs) and agriculture - stationed there. It is also situated in close proximity to the Namibian post at Aariansvlei. It houses modern offices for all four departments and married and single quarters in new housing blocks with electricity and water supplies currently being installed. The previous Naroegas post was 20km from the border, which posed the problem of people living in the uncontrolled area and crossing the border line without going through the correct authorities. Selebi officially opened the facility in conjunction with SARS national commissioner Pravin Gordhan and Home Affairs director-general Barry Gilder.
