On behalf of Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, we are indeed privileged to be accorded this opportunity to brief the media on the status of the Department of Home Affairs’ contribution to the successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
We are happy to declare to the people of our country, and the world, that as a department and government, we are ready to host a successful and historic 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In order to meet government’s guarantees to FIFA, the department in 2008 established a special initiative, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) 2010 FIFA World Cup project. In this regard, we established a dedicated task team to ensure that the department meets its obligations in terms of government’s commitments and guarantees to FIFA.
In this regard, our mandate relates to three main government guarantees made to FIFA namely the issuance of visas; work permits as well as priority treatment for the FIFA delegates, national teams and other accredited persons through our ports of entry, be they through our air or land ports of entry.
To further ensure that we fulfil our commitments and guarantees to FIFA, we established seven dedicated teams that focused on dedicated express lanes at airports, temporary joint border clearance facilities at land airports, ticket or voucher validation unit, joint Home Affairs, NIA and FIFA Clearance Task Team, the implementation of a Movement Control System (MCS) task team comprising Home Affairs, South African Revenue Service (SARS) and law enforcement agencies and the training of volunteers.
In terms of fulfilling our obligations with regard to guarantee one (work permits), we established a FIFA large account unit. To date this unit has issued 3 500 work permits. Although the unit continues to receive applications, the number has significantly dropped and therefore this guarantee is considered fulfilled. This has been confirmed in our weekly meetings with FIFA and LOC counterparts.
As part of the department’s commitment to deliver and meet the objectives of guarantee two (visas), the department issued a free event visa to spectators holding match certificates/vouchers. It is important to note that FIFA accredited persons only use their letters of accreditation to enter the country and therefore do not need an event visa. It is also important to note that in addition to the event visa, the department continues to issue normal visas to other travellers and this may include some of the soccer fans and spectators, especially those without match certificates or vouchers.
In order to support the effective, efficient and secure issuance of the event visa, the department established a 24 hour ticket validation unit that assist foreign missions to authenticate and validate the match certificates or vouchers issued by FIFA. The department now considers that it has fulfilled its commitments in terms of this guarantee.
In terms of priority treatment for the FIFA delegation, teams and other accredited persons at ports of entry (guarantee three); the department implemented a number of sub projects. Dedicated express lanes were established at OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka International Airports.
A new Movement Control System (MCS) with enhanced security features and faster traveller processing capacity has been installed at all terminals and workstations. The system, among the first in the world and linked to SARS, the Reserve Bank and law enforcement agencies will assist the country in facilitating the swift movement of persons in and outside the country, monitor those who overstay their welcome while assisting the country in combating crime and corruption.
During the period 1 May to 5 June 2010, approximately 2 588 476 passengers have been processed on the new system.
During the same period, more than 15 044 contraventions have been identified comprising individuals overstaying in terms of their entry conditions, over penalties for temporary residence permit abuses and occurrences where a passport was flagged as lost or stolen.
Human resource capacity has been significantly increased with ORTIA receiving at least new 76 Immigration Officers, 30 for Cape Town and 20 for King Shaka. FIFA has mobilised and will deploy volunteers for the above airports.
New branding material has been deployed with clear signage to dedicated counters for the clearing of FIFA accredited members, spectators with match certificates and holders of event visa.
A team terminal has been established at ORTIA for the processing of participating teams and the terminal is currently fully operational. The DHA team has already received positive feedback that the processing of teams was effective and efficient. For example, the Brazilian team has written a letter of appreciation to the department. As of yesterday, Monday, 7 June, a total of 24 teams (including South Africa) arrived in the country. Upon arrival, teams were cleared within an average time of 10 minutes.
It is also important to note that the department has increased capacity at the Pilanesberg and Waterkloof Airports for the processing of heads of states. Immigration officers have received training on protocol. To date, 24 heads of state, mainly from the African continent, have confirmed their attendance at the opening ceremony.
Co-Located Borders for Land Ports at Maseru and Ficksburg-Lesotho, Lebombo-Mozambique, Kopfontein-Botswana, Oshoek-Swaziland and Beitbridge-Zimbabwe have also been established to facilitate faster and speedy traveller clearance.
Yesterday, 7 June, Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and her Mozambican counterpart, Minister of Interior, Jose Pacheco signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between South Africa and Mozambique for joint temporary clearance. The MOU came into effect today and will remain in force for the duration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The objective of the agreement is to expedite the entry and exit of visitors from both countries for the duration of the 2010 FIFA World Cup through the Lebombo/Ressano Garcia Border Post. In this regard, the MOU will enable both countries to co-ordinate their activities with respect to joint border clearance and the prevention and detection of offences relating to immigration controls.
It is further anticipated that similar MOUs will be signed with other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.
We have also established a DHA and FIFA 24 hour joint clearance task team to assist travellers who may experience problems upon arrival at our immigration terminals. Such problems may include issues with FIFA letters of accreditation, pages on passports, visa’s especially spouses and children of FIFA accredited persons.
To date FIFA delegates accredited and cleared by NIA stand at 20940 out of a total of 22396. If any of the unclear persons were to present themselves at any port, the port manager will immediately contact the task team for a decision on whether to grant or deny the person entry. This task team will also play a positive role with respect to fulfilling our obligations on the guarantee on priority treatment to FIFA accredited persons.
An Advanced Passenger Processing (APP) system which allows us to bar undesirable elements from entering South Africa before boarding from various countries became operational on 23 November 2009. Seventy three percent of all airlines flying to South Africa are now signed up APP.
To further ensure the prevention of undesirable elements entering the country, the department is working closely with other security agencies. The success of such cooperation is evident through the interception and deportation of ten Argentinean soccer hooligans over the past weekend.
Known as the “Barrabravas”, they were placed on the department’s immigration list that prohibited their entry into South Africa.
The interception of the “Barrabravas” was a consequence of cooperation between the Department of Home Affairs, the South African Police Service and the International Police Cooperation Centre.
This move sends out a strong signal that government will not tolerate the presence of soccer hooligans and other undesirable elements in our country.
In conclusion, under the leadership of Minister Dlamini Zuma, the Department of Home Affairs is proud to have been part of the successful planning and execution of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Our collective efforts, as a government, are a reaffirmation of South Africa’s readiness to host the 2010 World Cup and a celebration of the 32 teams that will participate in the FIFA 2010 World Cup. In this regard, we can say without fear, we are ready to host the 2010 World Cup.
Issued by: Department of Home Affairs
8 June 2010
