BMA fires 17 officials in corruption crackdown - IOL

Seventeen Border Management Authority (BMA) officials have been fired for misconduct linked to fraud, corruption and other internal-control breaches.

The dismissals come as South Africa steps up efforts to clamp down on corruption at its borders and ports of entry, as authorities also work to deal with challenges such as illegal immigration.

BMA Commissioner Dr Michael Masiapato said the agency was taking a zero-tolerance approach to fraud, corruption and misconduct, with enforcement efforts being extended beyond land borders to airports and seaports.

"We reaffirm our zero-tolerance approach to fraud, corruption and misconduct at South Africa’s borders and ports of entry", he said.

The comments were made at the quarterly anti-corruption campaign of the Border Management and Immigration Anti-Corruption Forum (BMIACF) at OR Tambo International Airport on Friday.

The forum, chaired by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), brings together border management, law enforcement and other government institutions to strengthen efforts to prevent and investigate corruption at the country’s ports of entry.

Masiapato said the campaign would no longer be limited to land borders, with airports and seaports now also being targeted.

“We are no longer limiting ourselves to our land borders. We are bringing this campaign to our airports and, in the next quarter, we will be going to one of our sea ports, before returning to another airport,” he said.

Corruption could occur at any port of entry and required a co-ordinated response from government agencies.

“Corruption does not discriminate by port of entry, and neither can we. Our strategy must be as dynamic and integrated as the threats we face,” Masiapato said.

The BMA said 57 labour-relations and disciplinary cases involving internal-control breaches, fraud, corruption and other misconduct were handled during the past quarter.

Of these, 17 resulted in dismissals, while two officials received final warnings and one was suspended without pay.

Two officials were acquitted due to insufficient evidence, while a further 33 cases remain in the disciplinary process.

Masiapato said most of the outstanding cases involved employees working at OR Tambo International Airport.

He said disciplinary action was necessary to protect the integrity of the organisation, despite the impact it could have on officials and their families.

“As the accounting authority, I do not get joy from signing suspension or dismissal letters. Every time I sign those letters, it pains me, because it is not only the official who is going to suffer; it is his or her family that suffers the most,” he said.