Passengers have expressed their frustration over the last week about long immigration queues at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, with reports of only up to three immigration officials present at counters.
Earlier this year, Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, announced an additional R25 million (€1.8m) for the 2017/2018 financial year, which would allow for the appointment of an additional 58 immigration officials as well as fully capacitating its management team.
Tourism Update understands that there have been some problems with regard to connecting flights, however official stats have not been made available.
June Crawford, Chief Executive of Barsa, said while the queues were lengthy, there was no clear pattern about when the problem occurred. “The reason for it, again depends on the number of immigration officials on duty and that everybody reports on time.”
One passenger tweeted that only eight of the 16 counters were occupied at international departures. Another passenger departing on a regional flight noted that there was only one immigration official present for the non-South African passport holder queue. The passenger also shared images on Twitter and said that while the South African passport holder queue was significantly less busy, three immigration officials were present.
