/ 23 July 2008

Coastline cops can’t be everywhere

There are more than 300 small-vessel launch sites and slipways around South Africa’s coastline that are not monitored by the South African Police Service’s sea borderline control unit, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

The unit — which is responsible for the coastline stretching from the mouth of the Orange River in the west to Kosi Bay on the other side of the sub-continent — has only two operations, one at Richards Bay and the other in Simon’s Town, Superintendent David Smal told delegates at the Maritime Security in Southern African Waters conference in Stellenbosch.

”We are just in our baby shoes when it comes to addressing sea borderline control,” he said.

This means the existence of trans-national crime — such as illegal immigration, drug and weapons smuggling, and human trafficking, among others — along 3 895 nautical miles of South Africa’s coastline cannot be verified.

The unit is responsible for border control along the whole length of the South African coast, excluding the major harbours.

Smal said it is not possible for his unit to monitor vessels using the slipways and launch sites.

Of particular concern are vessels of less than 500 gross tonnes.

Asked to quantify the extent of illegal immigration, drug smuggling and trafficking, Smal said he ”could not put a figure to it”, but added that although there is a ”big amount” of drug smuggling into South Africa, there is not much of this along the coast.

Further, the amount of human trafficking on the coast is ”not that much”.

The South African Navy recently handed over two small vessels and four rubber ducks to the sea borderline control unit to beef up its water patrols. — Sapa