With just a day until the national and provincial elections on Wednesday, the Border Management Authority SA (BMA) has revealed it is on high alert at all ports of entry to monitor movements.
On Saturday night, the BMA immigration officials conducted an intelligence-driven operation on a flight from Dubai, where 28 Bangladeshis were intercepted on arrival at OR Tambo International Airport.
“… 28 Bangladeshis were intercepted on arrival at OR Tambo International Airport. During the operation, 27 were found to be in possession of fraudulent visas, and one Bangladeshi did not have a visa at all. The 28 Bangladesh nationals were deported.”
The Commissioner of BMA SA, Dr Michael Masiapato, commended the interception and deportation of 28 Bangladesh nationals by the BMA immigration officials.
Masiapato further urged advancements in detection technology and emphasised the value of working with embassies and foreign missions to confirm the validity of visas.
At a few vital land ports, Masiapato had sent out an extra 400 junior border guards to help with the vital tasks of maintaining the seamless facilitation of the lawful passage of persons and products across the ports and sanitising the border environment.
The management had also been on alert during the Easter period and facilitated about 1 136 250 travellers across our 71 ports of entry in the Easter period of 10 days between March 26 and April 4, 2024.
Compared to the 2023 Easter period, BMA reported 913 859, and the authority noted an addition of 222 391 more travellers facilitated, registering a 24% increase in traveller volume. OR Tambo Airport facilitated the most travellers at 217 855; followed by the Lebombo border post at 157 069; and Beitbridge at 153 118.
On more developments aimed at safeguarding and securing the elections, it was recently announced that the SANDF was set to move its prime mission equipment from the Department of Defence Mobilisation Centre at De Brug in Bloemfontein in the Free State to all the other provinces.
The Star