Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba announced that festive season traveller statistics went up by nearly 4%.
In a media briefing in Pretoria this afternoon, Gigaba said operations at South African ports of entry for the 2016/17 festive season were completed with much success, “characterised by high levels of professionalism and efficiency”.
The period under review was December 9 2016 to January 14 2017.
Movements recorded at ports of entry nationally amounted to a total of 5.5 million travellers.
“This marks an increase of 200 467 compared with the 5 303 555 recorded for December 9 2015 to January 14 2016,” Gigaba said.
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A large number of the travellers were from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region but included international tourists.
“The top 10 nationalities that arrived in South Africa for this period were from Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, United Kingdom, United States of America, Namibia, Germany and Zambia,” he said.
Three South African airports – OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka international – ranked among the world’s most punctual airports, with Cape Town placing third for airport punctuality.
All movements for OR Tambo reached a total of 977 961 compared with 948 477.
The top 10 ports by volume were OR Tambo International Airport, Beit Bridge, Lebombo, Maseru Bridge, Ficksburg, Cape Town International Airport, Oshoek, Kopfontein, Ramatlabama and Groblers Bridge.
Gigaba thanked immigration officers for a 2016-2017 festive season “executed successfully and proficiently” and said it laid a sound base for preparing for the next operation – Easter 2017.