The Department of Home Affairs will link up with other government agencies for a new initiative to be called “Operation Pyramid” to secure South Africa’s borders.
Acting Cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams said on Thursday that Operation Pyramid‚ to be launched later this month in Skukuza‚ Mpumalanga‚ is intended to “better coordinate and align” SA’s border projects‚ programmes and interventions.
This initiative will be operational until the scheduled establishment of the Border Management Agency in 2017‚ according to a government report.
“The secure‚ effective and efficient management of the cross-border movement of people and goods will be done in a manner that is consistent with the country’s national development priorities‚” Williams said.
Meanwhile‚ Cabinet has agreed that a task team of Ministers from both the economic and security clusters will tackle concerns raised about the new immigration laws.
“The team is expected to discuss and engage with the concerns with the aim of finding ways to address the unintended consequences brought about by the implementation of these regulations‚” Williams said.
The team will be convened by Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba.
The new immigration legislation amendments‚ which came into effect this month‚ require South Africans and foreigners travelling to and from South Africa with children under the age of 18 to produce Unabridged Birth Certificates.
The implementation of the new legislation is part of government’s commitment to safeguard the best interests of children and prevent child trafficking but has given rise to major concerns within the SA tourism industry‚ with a mass of cancellations reported.
Without providing details‚ Williams added “the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration will also continue with its work to relook at all the aspects relating to migrants that are in the country. This work will assist to provide synergy between migration and our laws”.