Border guards deployed unlawfully

10 August 2022

The civil rights organisation AfriForum has sent a letter to the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, demanding clarity about the process followed in deploying border guards under the management of the Border Management Authority (BMA).

According to AfriForum the relevant legislation, pertaining to the Border Management Act, that would empower the Department of Home Affairs and the BMA to deploy these guards, have not yet been gazetted.

Despite the fact that this legislation is not yet in place, the BMA guards were deployed to various border areas and have actively been stopping and searching vehicles and have also been issued with firearms.

“If our conclusion is correct, and these guards have been deployed before the required legislation has been gazetted, it will mean that the the government has unlawfully deployed a rogue unit of vigilantes to our border areas,” says Jacques Broodryk, AfriForum’s spokesperson for Community Safety.

“This would mean that these guards currently have less arresting powers than an ordinary citizen, acting in their personal capacity,” says Broodryk.

AfriForum is also concerned about the rushed training these guards have received as well as the manner in which the guards were sourced.

“Apparently the members of the BMA guards are former police and millitary officials but if they left the service in good standing is unknown. The impression this creates, is that AfriForum’s Border Watch Initiative has put so much pressure on the Department of Home Affairs, that they took shortcuts in deploying the guards, in an effort to create the impression that they are addressing the country’s serious challenges regarding border security,” concludes Broodryk.

Jacques Broodryk, Spokesperson: Community Safety, AfriForum, 10 August 2022