SANDF General Blames Politicians for Porous Borders, South Africans Agree

• A senior member of the South African National Defence Force slammed politicians and blamed them for porous borders
• Lieutenant-General Ntshavheni Maphaha said the country's borders are not protected because politicians have turned the army into a Mickey Mouse operation
• South Africans agreed with him and many saluted him for speaking his mind

Tebogo Mokwena, affiliated with Briefly News, provided local and international political analysis and interviews in South Africa for Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News during his nine years of experience.

LIMPOPO – South African National Defence Force (SANDF) senior officer Lieutenant General Ntshavheni Maphaha blasted politicians and blamed them for the country's porous borders.

What did Maphaha say?

Maphaha was addressing politicians and government officials at the funeral service of three of the SANDF members who died in the Democratic Republic of Congo after M23 rebels launched an ambush attack. He said South Africa is a leading nation in Africa, considered a big brother. He used the analogy of building a beautiful house and erecting a fence around it to stress the importance of secure borders.

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He said the SANDF is mandated to protect and defend the country. He said if SA will play big brother, the budget towards the SANDF should reflect this role. He appealed to politicians to think about whether they are protected or not. He slammed the politicians for spending more money on other obligations and not on the SANDF.

“Our borders are porous and they are porous because you politicians have decided that you want a Mickey Mouse defence force,” he said.

View the video here:

South Africa's borders

The country's borders are notoriously porous and over the past few years the country has had to wrestle with the influx of illegal immigrants crossing the borders illegally.

• Border officials in December rescued 14 children who were smuggled into the country through the Beitbridge border
• the BMA also stopped 27,000 people from entering the country from the borders illegally
• In 2023, ActionSA president Herman Mashaba visited the border in Limpopo and witnessed scores of people trying to cross the border illegally

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South Africans agreed with him

Netizens supported the senior SANDF official.

Noko said:

“This is exactly what we need. Let the generals speak out. Why keep quiet over something as strategic as the defence force?”

Sir Brayne said:

“Until we depoliticize portfolios or institutions like the SANDF, SAPS, SARS and NPA just to name a few, we are fighting a losing battle.”

Herman Mashaba said:

“This is what we call patriotism.”

Matana said:

“Sadly, they don't care. As long as they live in gated communities, drive in convoys and have kids studying abroad, we're literally on our own.”

PA members make Zimbabwean man turn back at border

In a related article, Briefly News reported that members of the Patriotic Alliance went viral for compelling a Zimbabwean to turn back after he tried to cross the border illegally. A video of the incident went viral in early January 2024.

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The clip showed how the man was standing on the shallow end of the Limpopo River with his bicycle on his back. He crossed the border and members of the PA shouted at him and told him to go back to Zimbabwe because he crossed the border illegally.

Source: Briefly News