Bordering on the absurd

One has to wonder sometimes if the people appointed to lead our country have even a passing acquaintance with the reality of what goes on inside our borders.

On Wednesday, portfolio committee on home affairs chair advocate Bongani Bongo sent out a press release calling for an “urgent increase of the South African National Defence Force [SANDF] and the South African Police Service [Saps] members at landward borders with the aim of sealing the porous nature of our borders”.

And where does the learned advocate imagine these members would come from?

Has he forgotten in May 2020, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told parliament the SANDF only had 63% of it’s funding needed to fulfil its mandate as required by the 2015 defence review.

Lest we forget, our borders fall primarily under the SANDF, whose primary task is to defend and protect South Africa.

And the warning signs have been there, ironically, since the defence review was approved as the SANDF has had more than R10 billion cut from its budget since then.

A gate left open and unguarded along the border fence between South Africa and Zimbabwe near the Beitridge Border crossing in Limpopo, 5 January 2021. Picture: Jacques Nelles

In 2010 the SANDF was already in trouble, with defenceWeb reporting the department of defence warning “parliament that the army faced a budget shortfall of R2.688 billion, including a R1.616 billion ‘operating shortfall’”.

The learned advocate also seems to have forgotten importing Cuban mechanics to teach our military counterparts how to keep our vehicles running with baling wire and duct tape because we can’t afford to buy new ones.

In a 2019 M&G interview with secretary of defence Dr Sam Gulube, he was quoted as saying: “Government will have to decide if we have an air force or an air wing. A navy or a coastal force.”

Police Minister Bheki Cele this week also called for the SANDF to support operations in the Western Cape to keep people off the beaches – something municipal police should be doing.

Of course, Covid-19 has smacked operational numbers of the police as well, with about 800 members in isolation due to the virus.

I’m no portfolio committee chairperson, but surely a more logical approach is to engage the department of international relations and cooperation to ensure Zimbabwe is not letting people through without valid Covid certificates.

The pictures taken by our photographer Jacques Nelles on Monday showed throngs of people at our border posts, with little control.

Oddly enough, this all falls under …. wait for it… the department of home affairs and Bongo, doesn’t attempt to take the log out of his own eye.

Crowds of people entering South Africa from Zimbabwe before going through customs at the Beit Bridge border post, 4 January 2021, Limpopo. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Perhaps his attention is diluted by the criminal charges he’s faces regarding corruption, fraud, theft, money laundering and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.

“Adv Bongo has called for the consideration of closure of ports of entry into South Africa until such solutions are found,” his statement read.

The problem is, after reading a study by the Global Economic Governance Africa programme on the economies of Beitbridge border post, to do so would simply take away the tins both economies are shaking at robots.

At least 3 000 commercial trucks and 14 000 travellers cross Beitbridge border post, the study found, with travellers waiting up to three hours on a daily basis.

It also found “South African immigration control officers were said to be rude and serving clients while on social media”.

That was in 2018. Throwing more cops and soldiers at the problem is not going to help a) when they are part of the problem; b) when they would have to be taken from elsewhere or c) simply don’t exist.

Fix your own department first.

Amanda Watson.

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