Zimbabweans crossing illegally into SA to shop for groceries load up and cross back into their country using one of many wide gaps in the expensive Beitbridge border fence.
Image: Thapelo Morebudi. Talk of the Town.
DA raise alarm over SA’s sieve-like land borders
The DA said the R37m fence recently erected between South Africa and Zimbabwe has collapsed.
Zimbabweans crossing illegally into SA to shop for groceries load up and cross back into their country using one of many wide gaps in the expensive Beitbridge border fence.
Image: Thapelo Morebudi. Talk of the Town.
South Africa’s land borders are worse than being porous, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has concluded following an oversight visit to evaluate conditions at several border posts between South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The DA team, led by the party’s Shadow Minister of Defence Kobus Marais, began its fact-finding mission at the Beitbridge Border Post, one of the busiest entry points into South Africa.
On the back of a series of media reports highlighting how easy it is to enter and leave South Africa, Marais expressed serious concerns about security risks at the borders, EWN reported.
Fence? what fence?
Marais said the R37m fence recently erected between South Africa and Zimbabwe has collapsed.
In August, an investigation ordered by Public works and infrastructure minister Patricia de Lille, revealed a litany of incompetence and wrongdoing in the construction of the fence and recommended disciplinary action against 14 government officials.
De Lille said senior officials in her department had allegedly committed a range of acts of misconduct during the procurement and construction of the 37km Beitbridge border fence.
“The public has a right to be updated on the progress in order to provide the necessary assurances that I am committed to clean governance and getting to the bottom of this matter,” she said.
Marais said with so few soldiers and old equipment, it’s impossible to stop illegal immigration posing a very serious security threat to the integrity of the country.
The DA had previously said that Department of Home Affairs is “riddled by corruption and disorganisation” and has caused an immigration system failure, followed by violence and tragedy.
