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This briefing provides an overview of the reconstruction and upgrading of the Lebombo Border Post, including the status of facilities, infrastructure, and operational services.
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OPERATIONAL RESPONSE SERVICES: BORDER POLICINGINFRA STRUCTURE/ OFFICE AND RESIDENTIAL ACCOMODATION: PORTS OF ENTRYBriefing by SAPS to the Portfolio Committee on Police17 June 2015
BACKGROUND The Portfolio Committee on Policing has for the month of February 2015 been visiting various policing areas in the Province of Mpumalanga. One of the areas visited was the port of entry, Lebombo, which borders South Africa and Mozambique. The Committees findings related to the Component are listed as follows: The status on the facilities that were supposed to be handed over by SAPS to the Department of Defence (DOD) Office and residential accommodation Fixed establishment/ personnel Shortage of vehicles Scanner
BACKGROUND (cont) The lack of proper infrastructure for Departments to operate optimally was the root cause for the reconstruction of the border in accordance with the above mentioned Project. The SAPS had particular needs ranging from office space, vehicle search bays under shelter, ablution facilities etc. some of the facilities that were not brick and mortar could be added like car shades. The pedestrian and truck bypass were constructed to ease traffic pressure however there are a number of structural deficiencies that have since been identified in both these facilities. All state agencies and Departments operational at the Lebombo Border post are having challenges with regard to office accommodation and other needs, the challenges do not only face SAPS. The newly built border was to cater for all needs in order to ensure optimal service delivery outputs.
OVERVIEW The entire border precinct was prioritised for reconstruction in 1998 there is an agreement between the RSA and Mozambique government. The agreement refers to the establishment of One Stop Border Post (OSBP) . The envisaged OSBP will be jointly operated by the officials from both Countries. All the structures that are currently at the border post would all be demolished to make way for the new buildings according to building layout plans with National Department of Public work (NDPW). The NDPW has made the point very clear in numerous meetings that any structure or building that has been earmarked for demolition cannot be refurbished and/or upgraded. With regard to Lebombo an unprecedented decision was taken to upgrade a ”Pedestrian” processing facility, specifically to ease up border congestion during 2010 Soccer World Cup .the upgraded structure was also meant to be utilised as interim facility while the other existing structures were being demolished. The truck bypass road and facilities were meant to be interim structures as well.
OVERVIEW (cont) The years went by while negotiations were going on between South Africa and Mozambique regarding various matters ranging from Project management to project funding model etc. by December 2009 the project cost estimate had already exceeded 1.5 Billion rands and the National Treasury was already pointing out the fiscal constraints as well as the over scoping of the project by project Leaders. It was clear then that the Mozambique Government also did not have any funding but had relied on the RSA to fund the entire project. The resumption of the project was therefore suspended pending availability of funds.
Status on the facilities supposed to have been handed over to Defence During 18th of November 2009, Cabinet took a decision and transferred the Borderline function from the SAPS to the Department of Defence (SANDF). The transfer of this function included the handing over of all borderline bases and their resources to the SANDF. Subsequent to the above Cabinet decision, the SAPS and the SANDF agreed on the way forward and decided on the phased in and out approach that ranged from the financial year 2011 up to 2014 and this process also include joint audits conducted at the mission area. The rationale for joint process was to make sure that no borderline should or is left without capacity. The approach also included a hybrid approach until the budget process of the Defence has been approved.
Status on the facilities supposed to have been handed over to Defence (cont) All the police resources that included vehicles and office furniture were distributed to the nearest ports of entry and some to mobilization unit, in Pretoria, while the human resources were sent back to their normal police stations as the police at the time did not have permanent members deployed. It must be noted that the human resources with the exception of cleaners and labourers were deployed on a four months rotational detachment duties. The cleaners and labours were provided with an option to choose the stations of their choice while some were sent to the nearest ports due to proximity of their homes. The above processes were agreed and signed upon on by Divisional Commissioner ORS and the Commander of Joint Operations (CJOPS) from the SANDF.
Status on the facilities supposed to have been handed over to Defence (cont) The only operational bases still not taken over by the Defence and are still under the command and control of the SAPS are Himeville and Upper Tugela in the border line between the Kingdom of Lesotho and South Africa (Kwa Zulu- Natal).
Office and Residential accommodation. The issue regarding office and residential accommodation in this report would be discussed and dealt with in two fold. The first phase being the process followed with regard to the collective approach, while in the second phase the process will highlight the rationale regarding the concept and the declaration of the Lebombo port as a One Stop Border.
The collective approach process The land border posts have various departments that play a primary role in the border environment and each department reports to its accounting officer. Due to the unequal resourcing of state departments that led to resource competition, the government decided to implement a collective approach whereby all departments will submit their needs and collectively decide on priorities. The objective was to enable departments to have a collective approach and together decide on priority resources and further to force departments to share such resources. During 2009, Treasury issued an instruction that all needs should be consolidated and budgeted for collectively. This also included needs such as scanners; a joint scanner project was established to look at all needs regarding the needs and purchasing of scanners.
The collective approach process (cont) Treasury would after approval assign or allocate the funding to the Capital budget of the National Department of Public Works (NDPW) to manage the budget on behalf of all state departments. A priority with regard to utilizing of those funds would then be submitted collectively to NDPW for the necessary spending. The Border Control Operational Coordination Committee (BCOCC) therefore established an Infrastructure Committee under the lead of NDPW to facilitate the process. All departments charged with border control were members and represented in this structure. The process also included the Repair And Maintenance Program (RAMP) that is responsible for the repair, cleaning and maintenance of the various land ports.
The collective approach process (cont) An example of the infrastructure budget allocation from Treasury since 2008, which was ring fenced and allocated to NDPW Capital Budget for land border projects was as follows: Allocation for 2008/09: R498 Million Allocation for 2009/10: R570 Million Allocation for 2010/11: R251 Million Allocation for 2011/12: R300 Million R570 Million for the 2009/10 financial year included the following projects: Lebombo: R166 Million Skilpad Gate: R281 Million
The collective approach process (cont) Other projects such as Golela, Vioolsdrift were budgeted for R123 Million for the RAMP. The funding in question was for Housing Projects (Golela and Skilpad), state of the art office and residential accommodation were built and completed at Golela and Vioolsdrift, while the Skilpad is currently at an advanced stage for completion. With regard to Lebombo a specific police residential accommodation with approximately 80 rooms was built and completed to accommodate members through the NDPW funding.
The collective approach process (cont) Based on the fact that the police have sometimes requirements that are operational specific for the department, the SAPS was engaged to include such issues in the SAPS Capital Budget. These requirements include resources such as generators, special equipment’s, ICT, diesel etcetera, which are used for operational functions outside the normal border control functions. The challenge with the above is that the SAPS tend to neglect the border environment and do not put their needs as a priority because they are of the Opinion that border specific needs are catered for by the NDPW Capital budget.
Infra structure requirement for 2013/ 2016: Ports earmarked for upgrading
The One Stop Border Project The Lebombo border post was identified as a One Stop Border Post (OSBP) project. The OSBP was a result of the agreement signed by the Head of States of both countries. The rationale was to create a structure that would accommodate both countries in order to expedite the passenger and goods traffic between the two countries. The scope of the work was to construct a new border post with new facilities that included the office, residential accommodation and other resources such as truck and vehicular scanners.
The One Stop Border Project (cont) A master plan was drafted, approved and shared with all role players in the port. All this was done in the presence of Treasury officials who advised on the processes to be followed. Certain areas that included offices and residential accommodation were identified to be demolished and this included some SAPS offices and while the process was ongoing members were housed in temporary structures and officials were encouraged to utilized communal structures such as the newly built public toilet facilities.
The concept of the OSBP further included the following that: The segmentation of goods and passengers Joint processing and joint controls Information sharing Self-assessment in green and red lanes Intervention by exception that is intelligence base intervention.
The concept of the OSBP further included the following that (cont) The project took some time to materialize due to various issues that included budget and legal implication; and the plan also coincided with the country hosting the 2010 soccer world cup, however during the period in question due to the importance of the port, a contingency was devised that included the allocation of budget for the following: The construction of a temporary freight bypass and parking and that the bypass should link with the Mozambican bypass The construction of the pedestrian facility on the SA side which will provide the option of a collocation and this facility aimed for the travellers on foot. Light vehicle facility on the SA side for the processing of busses and taxis.
The concept of the OSBP further included the following that (cont) This 2010 project led to the demolition of various infrastructures that also included the reorganization of infrastructure at the port. Of note is the issue raised by the commander regarding the shortage of toilet facilities and operational office accommodation in the port. Although it is true that police have limited facilities such as toilets, it is also true that such facilities were increased in the public areas and are accessible to the operational members of the police. It should be noted that the current structure is temporary and all such facilities will be catered for in the envisaged master plan of the port. Due to the fact that the development of the OSBP at Lebombo would straddle to the Mozambican side, the developers were forced to seek funds outside South Africa as public money could not be used for that purpose.
The concept of the OSBP further included the following that (cont) Treasury have been leading in this process and funding has been sourced to continue with the project from the African Development Bank. Tenders with regard to the drafting of the implementation plan have already been advertised.
Fixed establishment and personnel During 2006, the Component Border Policing and the Component Organizational Development embarked on a work study investigation that concentrated in the entire port of entry environment. The study’s objective related to the “Development of Organizational, Functional and Personnel Structures Supporting the Optimized Policing and Security Strategy for all ports of entry in South Africa”
Fixed establishment and personnel (cont) The study was approved and came up with a formula that categorized all ports into categories A, B, C and D; these categories were based on the functions and load of work for each port. The port in question was categorized as category B, based on the load of activities to be performed in that port. The ideal personnel amounted to a total of 489. A plan of action was devised in order to resource and staffs it in line with the approved Resource Allocation Guide. During 2010 police management reorganized the functioning of the border environment and placed all ports with the exception of Durban Harbour and OR Tambo International Airports to the respective Provincial Commissioners.
Fixed establishment and personnel (cont) Due to the provincial priorities resources were transferred away from the borders without replacement to local police stations in line with the provincial current fixed establishment. Various audit teams to include Internal Audit and Auditor- General have also voiced their dissatisfaction and made findings on the shortage and allocation of HR resources in the ports. This office has also asked Organizational Development to review the current functional structures.
Shortage of vehicles The current allocation of vehicles is adequate; however they are old and have high mileage. The vehicles are not conducive for the unit operational needs. The commander pointed the need for high performance vehicles as mostly criminals utilize high powered vehicles and many occasions outrun them.
SCANNER Most departments would like to have utilization of the scanner to ensure what is declared, what they process in paper is what is actually contained in Cargo consignments. For this reason the National treasury observed that while the Cargo scanners would run into tens of millions of rands, the Departments were working in silos each requesting a scanner for individual purpose. As a result a Scanner committee was established that included all relevant Departments and state owned enterprises , this committee was later to have its mandate broaden to look at all infrastructure that has common or crosscutting utilization that included Integrated Justice system (IJS) and other projects. The treasury suggested that the scanner capabilities should be able to serve all departments interest and should be located at an agreed area where all departments can do their duties effectively. The National treasury did not intend allocating funds to one department for scanners.
