Good morning to everyone present — our Deputy Commissioners, partners from both the public and private sectors, members of the border management community, the media, and all distinguished guests.

As the Border Management Authority (BMA), we are once again rolling out our Easter Festive Season Plan. This plan is designed to ensure the safe, secure, and smooth movement of people and goods across South Africa’s 71 ports of entry during the busy Easter period.

Easter is one of the busiest travel seasons in the country, and our goal is to strike the right balance between strong border enforcement and enabling legitimate travel, tourism, and trade.

This plan is backed by strong collaboration across government and security structures, including the Inter-ministerial Consultative Committee on Border Management, the Border Technical Committee, Natjoints, Provjoints, and other key partners in the border management system.

How the Plan Works

The Easter operational plan is divided into four phases:

Planning, Execution, Demobilisation, and Sustenance.

Planning Phase

Our planning phase began toward the end of the last festive season, running from early February 2026 and concluding on 30 March 2026.

Despite limited resources, we focused on strengthening partnerships to boost our capacity.

Key support includes:

The Western Cape Government, which has deployed about 50 officials to assist as Immigration Officers at Cape Town International Airport.

The Gauteng Provincial Government, which has provided 80 officers at OR Tambo International Airport.

To better protect vulnerable travellers, especially minors and victims of trafficking, we partnered with the Department of Social Development, which has deployed social workers to ports of entry across provinces.

We also continue working closely with the Department of Tourism, which has sent over 160 tourism safety officers to help manage traveller movement and improve safety within ports.

On infrastructure, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is supporting operations by providing temporary lighting, sanitation facilities, barricades, and water tankers to improve conditions at ports and along transit routes.

Improving Road and Corridor Safety

Traffic authorities at national, provincial, and local levels will step up enforcement to ensure road safety and compliance during this high-traffic period.

Public and Private Sector Partnerships

Beyond government collaboration, we’ve strengthened partnerships with private sector players such as DCD Protected Mobility, Paramount Group, Aselsan South Africa, and Unipro Protective Wear. These partners are helping us deploy advanced surveillance, mobility, and protective technologies to modernize border operations.

In addition, Sanlam/Assupol will support the health and wellbeing of officials working in demanding border environments.

We also appreciate industry partners in the maritime and aviation sectors, including the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAFF) and the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE), for their continued cooperation.

Regional Cooperation

At a regional level, we’ve held discussions with our six neighbouring countries — Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, eSwatini, and Botswana — to improve coordination and streamline border processes.

These engagements led to agreements to extend operating hours at selected ports of entry that do not run 24 hours a day. These extensions have been approved by the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, in his role as Chairperson of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Border Management.

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The Commissioner of the BMA, Dr Michael Masiapato, has provided a report on high traveller movement.

Masiapato is currently overseeing operations at the Beitbridge Port of Entry and has ensured that additional resources and operational support have been deployed across other ports of entry nationwide.

He said this is done to manage the increased volumes, multiple processing and interception points have been established at all major ports.

Beitbridge continues to lead with high number volumes in land borders with over 22483 processed on 03 January alone.

At Beitbridge, elevated volumes have been largely driven by the simultaneous arrival of buses from Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia mainly and the processing were managed through established border control protocols.

In response to long queues and extreme heat conditions, the BMA has prioritised small children, the elderly and vulnerable travellers.

He said that any traveller presenting signs of illness is assessed by the BMA Port Health officials to prevent the importation of infectious and communicable diseases.

In just two days, 1 and 2 January 2026, the BMA intercepted more than 546 travellers at various ports of entry across the country, the majority of whom were undocumented.

Masiapato said these interceptions affirm that border management systems, deployments, and enforcement mechanisms remain active, responsive, and effective.

He said all undocumented persons intercepted were processed in line with South Africa’s immigration laws, with immediate deportation processes initiated.

In addition to immigration enforcement, the BMA has intensified agricultural, food safety, and biosecurity controls.

“While the Authority operates under limited resources, BMA officers remain fully deployed, vigilant, and committed to defending the Republic’s borders. Daily interceptions, refusals of entry, confiscations, and enforcement actions confirm that illegal entry and prohibited movements are being detected and decisively addressed,” he said.

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