South Africa Deploys Amphibious Vehicles On Zimbabwe Border
South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) is rolling out amphibious vehicles to beef up security along the border with Zimbabwe, following a surge in people crossing into the country illegally.
BMA Commissioner Maike Masiapato on Monday, 23 March, said the vehicles, which can move on both land and water, will help authorities spot attempts to sneak across using makeshift boats and other unsafe methods. He said:
“The vehicle is able to drive in any terrain. And as you can imagine, the border environment is a very complex space where there is some bit of, you know, uneven environment, but also there are some lot of waters in between.
“So basically what the car does, as you can see it, it is able to drive on land and it has its tires flated in a way or inflated.
“But when it gets into the water, it then deflate the tires and it is able to use some mechanism to be able to drive on water in a way that is looks like a bit of of a boat.”
The vehicles can navigate deep mud and sand that would trap a standard 4×4, then seamlessly transition into the water to intercept boats.
By being able to move mid-stream, the BMA can now monitor the entire width of the river, rather than just the South African bank.
Earlier on Monday, South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Leon Schreiber, admitted that the border fence built a few years ago is “not fit for purpose.” Reports say more than R37 million was spent on the fence back in 2021.
