Porous borders not virus culprit – blame air travel, says expert

Porous borders may well have a socio-economic impact on SA, but the coronavirus has mainly been traced to air travel – one of the three main ports of entry – a retired army colonel and an academic said yesterday.

Veteran Colonel David Peddle, who spent several years overseeing border operations for the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), said the collapse of electric fences, lack of their maintenance and not enough personnel to man the borders, made entry into the country “much easier”.

Between 1999 and 2009, Peddle served as chief of joint operations, responsible for planning for all internal land and air operations along the borders, offering support to police.

“The penetrability of our borders will always be a very big issue, especially now that there is widespread panic over the coronavirus.

“You are talking about a border stretch, measuring up to 4,000km with about 120 people deployed, which is not enough.

“There used to be an electric control post every 10km, but that has all collapsed when police took over and failed to maintain the infrastructure – making illegal crossing easy,” said Peddle.

But he claimed those entering SA from neighbouring countries were far less likely to be coronavirus sufferers.

“I do not see a vast number of those crossing the border – mainly from rural areas – being affected by the illness. The coronavirus threat is largely in the urban centres,” said Peddle.

University of Pretoria political science lecturer Sithembile Mbete said it would be “incredibly difficult for SA to close all borders”.

“The virus’ risk should not outweigh economic implications for the country.”

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