PREMIUM!
People cross border from Mozambique to collect SA social grants, says DA
Members of the DA said they were able to zip across to Mozambique, buy fish, and then return.
Skilpadshek Border. Picture: Wikimedia commons.
The DA has undertaken a “border tour” in a bid to highlight the “true state” of South Africa’s borders.
According to a statement from the party, the “alarming” tour has exposed a “grim picture of how the ANC has failed in securing our country’s borders”.
The official opposition became self-appointed border inspectors at the Limpopo/Zimbabwe border, the KwaZulu-Natal/Mozambique border and the North West/Botswana border.
READ MORE: DA wants soldiers to secure SA’s borders
They say they uncovered a range of issues including “illegal cross-border trading”, “alleged social grant fraud”, “porous borders,” “no fence”, “poor military patrolling”, and “hijacking syndicates”.
The party said that, at the Beit Bridge border in Limpopo, they discovered parts of the fence which had been cut through as well as an “open and unmanned gate large enough for a truck to drive through”.
They said people on the other side of the border could clearly be seen watching for when South African National Defence Force (SANDF) patrols came and went.
Providing more clarity!
Standing along our border, we were able to capture footage of people on the other side of the border watching the SAn side.
They could see SANDF patrols arriving & leaving, & thereby ascertain the best time to cross undetected.#SecureOurBorders pic.twitter.com/35Ynb0E680
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) November 29, 2018
Moving on to the Manguzi border leg of their “tour”, they said the SANDF told them a proper fence was crucial. DA members alleged that they “were able to cross into Mozambique, buy fish, and cross back into South Africa” in a part of their statement that could potentially be an admission of guilt that they illegally crossed the border.
The party also alleged they were informed people regularly crossed the border from Mozambique to collect social grants and shop in South Africa before returning home.
According to the DA, their “unimpeded movement into our country allows them to exploit benefits intended for South Africans”.
In a separate issue at the border between Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal, “terrified communities” near the border are being targeted by car hijackers. The DA further alleged that members of SA law enforcement were working with the syndicates.
READ MORE: Beitbridge border control only has two working computers – DA
Finally, at the Skilpadshek Border in the North West, the SANDF told the DA the border was inaccessible to the military who therefore couldn’t patrol it. Apparently, the border does not have an “appropriate border fence” but an “agricultural fence instead”.
The party said the ANC had left our border in disarray and that they were “the only party that is capable” of fixing them.
The statement, available below, then details the many ways the DA want to toughen up SA’s borders.
https://www.facebook.com/Graham.Gersbach/posts/10157092279148923
(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)
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