When borders are properly guarded, citizens are safer
Instructors from the US were invited to give different courses, including behavioural analysis and vehicle searching, with the emphasis on consistency.
Mpumalanga border personnel attending a course on customs and border protection last week found some contraband at the Lebombo Border Post during a practical exercise.
They practised what was taught to them when they seized smuggled alcohol in a cement mixer, cigarettes and other goods within half an hour of action.
According to Bryant McCray, customs and border protection attaché at the US Embassy in Pretoria, the aim of the course, offered at Muvula Lodge on Likweti Game Reserve, was to enforce and improve border security in the region by giving technical assistance to and exercising capacity building in the relevant departments.
“Technical assistance like this comprises assistance in training, the provision of equipment, and the sharing of best practices,” McCray told White River Post. “South Africa acts as an important hub in the region, therefore we decided to give this assistance.”
Instructors from the US were invited to give different courses, including behavioural analysis and vehicle searching, with the emphasis on consistency.
“If a taught seven-point inspection is performed, for example, searches will be more consistent and anomalies identified more easily,” he said.
A combination of staff, including officials from SARS and the departments of environmental affairs, agriculture and public health, attended the courses.
McCray stressed that the objective was to identify weak points, and not only acting reactively.
During a practical exercise at the Lebombo Border Post, trainees showed the value of the training by finding and seizing some smuggled alcohol and other contraband by following the procedures taught to them.
