Firstly, we join the people of our country, Africa and the world in extending our heartfelt condolences to the family of first democratically-elected President of our Republic, Nelson Mandela
Even though President Mandela has passed away, we express the confidence that his legacy will forever flourish in the hearts of millions of people at home and abroad
We commit ourselves to remain true the values and ideals he espoused throughout and was even prepared to lay down his life for.
Ours is to ensure we work tirelessly without sparing neither strength nor effort to ensure the consolidation of his dream of a fully- fledged non-racial, democratic and non-sexist democratic society, in which all black and white can live in harmony.
We are humbled by the outpouring of grief by our people, the people of Africa and indeed the world at large. This underlines our conviction that Nelson Mandela was not just simply a citizen of our country but that of Africa and indeed the globe. In this regard, we are proud to have shared him with the rest of the world.
We reiterate our gratitude to the people of our country for the dignified and disciplined manner in which they have responded to this unprecedented situation-through the various prayer and memorial services including the one held earlier today. This dignified and disciplined response would certainly make Madiba proud of our people.
Accordingly, and as the world prepares to commit his mortal remains to his home ground at Qunu, we stand ready to do everything in our power to help facilitate the smooth movement of into our country of mourners from our continent and other parts of the world.
We will do so taking into account that President Nelson Mandela was a person of the people - rich and poor, leaders of governments and non-governmental organisations, labour and business, religious and non-religious formations, young and old, men and women.
In this regard, government has in the past few days and hours welcomed a high number of Heads of State and Government, former Heads of State and Government and eminent persons from across various sectors of society to the various services associated with the funeral of President Mandela.
A large number of mourners have been passing through and will be passing OR Tambo International Airport, Lanseria, Waterkloof Air Force Base and Port Elizabeth airports.
Accordingly, we made sound plans to deal with this expected turn-out at these and other land ports, taking into account all other state events ahead of the state funeral at Qunu.
In this context, we have been in constant communication with other relevant entities including DIRCO and ACSA, among others, to attain timely arrivals and departure information for dignitaries attending the funeral.
ACSA has been assisting us with a daily itinerary of flight arrivals as well as departures while DIRCO has provided us with a list of Heads of State and Government that are expected for the funeral as well as their schedules of departure.
As part of our plans, we have increased capacity in these airports through reinforcements at our service counters to ensure all cubicles at these airports are staffed on a 24-hour basis for the duration of this week. This is in addition to plans announced recently for the ports of entry for the December period.
In addition, we have increased the number of supervisors on duty for all shifts to guarantee proper oversight during operations. Our IT personnel have also been deployed to the identified airports to deal with any technological glitches that might arise.
Informed by the need to ensure the efficiency of our operations, and in recognition of our international relations obligations, we have increased our diplomatic counters to expedite processing of diplomatic dignitaries attending the funeral.
VISAS ON ARRIVAL
I gave my approval for the Department to issue visas on arrival to mourners who will be arriving from countries where South Africa does not have a diplomatic presence.
Working with DIRCO, we will have a list of such mourners in advance to enable us to identify them upon arrival.
I thank you.
Enquiries:
Ronnie Mamoepa
Spokesperson: Department of Home Affairs
Cell: 082 990 4853
