We are fragile at borders, we could be bombed at any time – Parliament hears

“In terms of war, we are fragile. Anything can come to us. We could be bombed at any time, we have nothing at the border line.”

With these words Malusi Ganiso, director of town planning at the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), summed up the dire situation at South Africa’s land borders.

On Wednesday, Ganiso and several senior officials of the DPWI presented a progress report to Parliament’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on the site clearance for integrated border line fencing and patrol roads at the country’s land borders.

“Since 1994, we have failed to look after our borders. We can testify that the current situation on our border is not looking good. We are not safe socially, politically and economically. People are crossing into the country and the fence is completely down. If you go to Lesotho and Swaziland, there is nothing, absolutely nothing,” he said.

The briefing came in the wake of the Beitbridge border fence fiasco.

Investigations conducted by the DPWI and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) uncovered a cesspool of irregularities that saw government pay R17 million more than what was expected.

Contractors were also paid an amount of R21.8 million before doing any work. The SIU’s application to freeze the bank accounts of the contractors will be heard on Friday.

Acting director-general Imtiaz Fazel also touched on the Beitbridge border matter.

“We have failed to adhere to the conditions of site clearance. That site clearance was issued on 10 March, before the lockdown. One of the findings made is that the department failed to meet the requirements of its own site clearance processes,” Fazel said.

Ganiso also presented pictures of border fences which had completely collapsed.

The barbed wire is torn, cut to pieces and severely damaged.

DA MP Samantha Graham said the economic and social problems in neighbouring countries will have a huge impact on South Africa.

“As long as we have more of what they need, the more they will cross over to us. We have a First World plan for a Third World problem. We have a great plan here, but we need to sort out the social ills. We cannot allow these problems to continue. Stop putting the cart before the horse,” she said.

ANC MP Lizzie Shabalala said in the past there has been no issues on the border with Lesotho and Eswatini.

“My instincts are telling me that we need to look at the ideological aspect of this. Mozambique has always been a problem. People from Mozambique will go as far as hijacking cars in Empangeni in KwaZulu-Natal,” she said.

DPWI deputy director-general for real estate investment Sasa Subban said the department was looking at long-term solutions.

“There is some detailed work that has been undertaken by the technical team. We worked at the first level [of the study] with the Department of Defence. The business case is nearly finalised and will be presented to the relevant stakeholders and National Treasury going forward. We have not finalised the designs and what we are accepting as the best solution for the border line fences. The technical teams are still looking at this,” she said.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.