Integrated control of the South African border environment

Abstract

The Border Control Operational Coordinating Committee (BCOCC) is a national body “responsible for the strategic management of the South African border environment in a coordinated manner.” This includes the key components of improved and coordinated security, trade and tourism. Control of the border environment is inherently a multi-departmental responsibility, requiring extensive communication and coordination across departments, agencies and provinces, and covering the whole of the South African border environment. This environment includes land border lines and ports of entry; the harbours, coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone in the sea; and the airports and air borders that can essentially be anywhere in the country where international flights enter our airspace. To control/coordinate the border environment effectively requires a vast range of information sources, reconnaissance and surveillance sensors, a communications infrastructure and a hub where information can be collected, collated, analysed and disseminated. This is often required in real-time to enable effective response to incidents. This paper describes the approach which is currently being followed to create a new national asset, the National Border Coordinating Centre (NBCC)