South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has started a new border force to make the country’s borders stronger.
The inauguration happened in the town of Musina, where the busy Beitbridge border post with Zimbabwe is located.
Immigration is a very important political problem in South Africa.
Controlling the borders has become chaotic, and the government is being asked to do more to limit the number of people entering the most advanced country in sub-Saharan Africa from its neighboring countries.
At the same time, political parties are using xenophobia to gain support from unhappy South Africans before the 2024 elections.
Until now, four different government departments were responsible for looking after the borders. They had to follow 58 laws made by the government.
But now the Border Management Authority, which was very expensive to create, is now South Africa’s third organization responsible for enforcing laws, after the police and army.
The creation of the agency means that South Africa now has a border police bureau that works together under one leadership.
Many border guards have been hired and will be working alongside the defense force. They will be working at the entry points of South Africa, which include eight ports where ships arrive, 52 borders where people can enter by land, and eleven airports where people can come from other countries.
The event was also attended by Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had discussions with Mr Ramaphosa earlier.
The leader of South Africa said that both men agreed that our countries want to live peacefully beside each other.
South Africa has faced more problems with its border control recently.
A really expensive fence that was built between South Africa and Zimbabwe fell down, making it hard to prevent people from illegally immigrating.
In simpler terms, many police officers have been caught and arrested for being corrupt. They were asking for bribes.
South Africa counted its population in 2022, and the compiled information will be made public on 10 October.
Information from the 2011 census showed that there were 3. 96 million people from other countries living in South Africa, some of whom did not have official documents. Statistics South Africa confirmed that this means approximately 6% of the people living in the country.
Many people think there might be a lot more illegal immigrants than what is officially reported. They say the government is not doing enough to stop undocumented foreigners from coming into the country.
Some groups, like the street movement Operation Dudula, say that illegal migrants are causing a lot of crime.
The argument about immigration is often spoiled by violence, fear of foreigners, and false information. Some jobless people in South Africa have been made to think that undocumented migrants from other African countries are taking their jobs.
This week, the police closed down shops owned and operated by people from outside South Africa in Soweto. This happened when two kids died after eating biscuits they bought from a nearby store.
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