With the first anniversary of its formal establishment just days away, South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) faces a three-year medium term budget shortfall of R4.3 billion and needs to fill more than three thousand posts in the same period a Parliamentary questioner was told.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber was asked by fellow Democratic Alliance (DA) National Assembly (NA) public representative Adrian Roos what the total short funding to fully fund the Border Management Authority (BMA) is.
The R4.353 billion shortfall is due to the BMA not receiving the full requested funding from National Treasury (NT) and what appears to be a budgetary error by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). Schreiber’s response in this regard reads “the transferring departments transferred an accurate budget for compensation of employees (CoE) and did not transfer the full budget for goods and services”.
The R4.35 billion shortfall over three years includes R3.2 billion for human resources, R757 million for information, communication and technology, and R350 million for tools of the trade.
On human resources Schreiber told his questioner the total approved BMA personnel structure is 11 115.
“As at 30 June 2024, 2 566 positions were filled leaving the vacant positions at 8 549. Within the MTEF (medium term expenditure framework) period, the BMA would be required to fill 3 207 positions in order to ensure alignment with the total approved organisational structure. As per approved organisational structure, the area of focus for urgent capacitation is the ports of entry, including the critical support positions, which are critical for governance purposes.”
As far as sourcing alternate funding for the agency is concerned in the light of NT not approving a request for R2.9 billion, Roos was informed the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJCD) was approached. R500 million was sought from the Criminal Assets Recovery Account (CARA) managed by Minister Thembi Simelane with R150 million approved.
The funds, as per Schreiber’s reply, will see “specialised capital equipment” acquired. “These tools of trade and technologies would assist the operational staff in adequately rendering the mandate, which includes facilitating the movement of people and goods, effectively intercept the illicit flow of goods and illegal movement of people through our ports and vulnerable segments of the borderlines. These tools of trade include but are not limited to patrol vehicles, firearms and ammunition, communication devices, body-worn cameras, surveillance equipment, forensic technology, motion sensors, drive-through vehicle/truck scanner, etc”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa formally launched the BMA during a function in the Limpopo border town Musina on 5 October after its establishment as a Schedule 3A Public Entity six months earlier.
