The Border Management Authority (BMA), together with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and other government stakeholders, has intensified its quarterly anti-corruption campaign at the Oshoek Port of Entry, a critical crossing between South Africa and the Kingdom of Eswatini.
Chaired by the SIU, the multi-agency initiative—formally known as the Border Management and Immigration Anti-Corruption Forum—aims to proactively dismantle corruption networks at the country’s ports of entry. A distinctive feature of the campaign involves formerly employed officials, now serving prison sentences for fraud and corruption-related offenses, sharing firsthand accounts of the personal and financial devastation caused by their actions.
BMA Commissioner Dr. Michael Masiapato outlined the strategy, noting that since the Authority’s establishment on April 1, 2023, integrating officials from multiple government departments revealed entrenched misconduct. “We realized that being reactive is not necessarily helpful,” Dr. Masiapato stated. “We needed to do things differently.”
The Forum brings together the SIU, the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Investigative Directorate, and other structures to pursue a dual approach: proactive awareness and decisive enforcement. Officials are educated on the national security implications of their roles, while convicted former colleagues provide stark, practical warnings.
“This is not just an intellectual conversation,” Dr. Masiapato explained. “It is a conversation that is very much practical.” He cited the testimony of a former South African Revenue Service customs officer who worked at Oshoek. In 2010, pressured by friends seeking funds for World Cup tickets, she participated in a scheme involving fictitious imports. She was fired, prosecuted, convicted in 2023, and is now serving a 10-year sentence.
The campaign has now reached four major ports: Beit Bridge, Lebombo, Maseru Bridge, and Oshoek. Beyond education, the second pillar ensures that when individuals are implicated in corruption, all stakeholders collaborate to act decisively—not only against compromised officials but also against external corruptors who facilitate the crimes.
To counter specific, known schemes—such as bribes concealed in passports or fraudulent exit stamps enabling illegal overstays—the BMA has introduced traceable, individually numbered stamps. “Officials know for sure that they will not use their own stamps… illegally,” Dr. Masiapato said. Any fraudulent stamp links directly to the responsible official, enabling swift investigation and dismissal. These measures have already resulted in the termination of 50 immigration officers, with 38 more cases pending.
Additional tools include body-worn cameras to record official-traveler interactions, providing audio-visual evidence to support disciplinary and legal action. Looking ahead, Dr. Masiapato highlighted the upcoming rollout of the Electronic Movement Control System (EMCS) 2.0, which will replace paper-based processes with facial recognition technology. “That is going to avoid all of these challenges we’ve been sitting on about passports, passport photos and all of those kind of issues,” he said.
The Commissioner affirmed that while progress is evident, the BMA and its partners remain committed to sustained, proactive efforts to safeguard South Africa’s borders and uphold the integrity of its migration systems.
