The Border Management Authority (BMA) Bill is back. Well, sort of.
The bill is still stuck at the National Council of Provinces’ Select Committee on Social Services. Nine years since conception and two years after being voted for by the National Assembly, the Department of Home Affairs is determined to revive this piece of contentious legislation.
The bill formed part of the department’s 2014-2019 medium-term strategic framework. It was eventually passed during a successful third attempt at a vote on 8 June 2017 in the National Assembly, to the chagrin of critics. The bill was supposed to be operational in the 2017/2018 financial year. But life and politics happened. And so it was that the bill missed its deadlines.
The Davis Tax Committee politely said that the bill was a bad idea, National Treasury understood the BMA Bill’s rationale but objected to some of its more ambitious provisions, and the proposed founding legislation made the South African Police Service (SAPS) nervous.
At the height of the public conversation about the bill, the Davis Tax Committee said South Africa could not afford to split its excise and customs duties collection function. And, in any event, the SA Revenue Service (SARS) was modernised and the government had invested heavily to capacitate the receiver of revenue to perform this function optimally. So, it made no sense for Home Affairs to swoop in and fragment mandates.
That reading of the bill was made in the context of declining collection revenues and at the peak of SARS’ and Home Affairs’ image crises. At the time, the tax authority and the ministry’s leadership did not inspire public confidence.
So fraught was the issue that the then-deputy finance minister wrote to the Portfolio Committee of Home Affairs, pleading that the excise and customs duties collection function remain with SARS. The former deputy finance minister’s letter also alluded that Home Affairs had reneged on what had been agreed among the different departments, and instead proceeded with the contested version of the bill in Parliament. That was in March 2017, three months before the BMA Bill was passed in the National Assembly.
Other issues raised about the BMA Bill included: that it would be too costly to set up a Border Management Agency; the task of housing all border

functions under one entity, with Home Affairs taking the lead, was too big an undertaking; and that its mandate was too broad and all-encompassing.
This was, after all, the department that bungled South Africa’s visa regime and could not be trusted to issue unabridged birth certificates on time. Why then would Home Affairs be trusted to deliver on such a strategic function, was the undercurrent of the criticism.
The SAPS had jitters about the bill because some of its proposals would interfere with the police’s constitutionally mandated functions. Also, the bill’s ambiguous wording about the police’s mandate in terms of border protection caused concern. At a February 2018 hearing on the bill in Parliament, MPs registered their worries about Home Affairs wanting to establish a standalone and new unit that would effectively be doing SAPS work.
So, there remains much that is unresolved about the BMA Bill. But, in its report to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs about its budget vote and annual performance plan, which was tabled in the second week of July 2019, the department boldly proclaims that: it “… is still planning to establish the Border Management Agency”.
In the same report to the committee, Home Affairs concedes that “… the BMA Bill lapsed … due to contention with National Treasury on the [Border Management Agency] taking over customs payments at border posts”. But that has not stopped the department from setting aside almost R100-million over the medium term to get the ball rolling on the border agency.
It will be interesting to see how the conversation plays out at Cabinet level, and how other line departments respond to this development in light of all the unresolved issues with the BMA Bill. A crucial point captured by the erstwhile deputy finance minister in that 2017 letter, was that the BMA Bill would cause uncertainty in an economy in desperate need of it.
As such, it seems as though the new Home Affairs administration is continuing with its predecessor’s obsession with blurring mandates, instead of taking care of its core functions.
www.samigration.com V.2919

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
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One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
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A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

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On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

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The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
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1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
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Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
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