Recent media reports suggest that the Border Management Authority (BMA), established as an autonomous Schedule 3A Public Entity on 1 April 2023, is underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed.
The authority’s most recent report revealed a shortfall of R4.3 billion, a fraction of what is needed to fulfil its mandate.
It is not, however, only the financial burden created by the formation of the BMA that dooms it to failure, but the fact that the creation of this agency was strongly opposed when first presented as a Bill to Parliament in 2013.
Why the opposition and why the failure to deliver?
In principle, the idea of a more streamlined border management agency which reduces corruption, prevents illicit trading and facilitates the movement of people and goods is a good one, but placing this authority under the Department of Home Affairs was not welcomed.
A member of Parliament called the BMA Bill “one of the worst pieces of legislation to ever hit the House”, and concerns raised by the South African Revenue Service (Sars), the SA Police Service (SAPS) and the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) led to several revisions.
- Read the full opinion piece in our “Columns” section.
