Johannesburg - A new system that will facilitate the secure movement of tourists into and out of the country and ensure their speedier processing at ports of entry was introduced on Wednesday, ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
The World Cup is expected to see millions of tourists flock into the country and the department of home affairs has put in a place a system - the Movement Control System (MCS) - that will among other things act as an early warning for government agencies to track visitors with false passports and visas and even detect if a person is being sought by the police or Interpol.
Over and above this, it allows for quick processing of documents at ports of entry, taking away the irritation of standing in long queues after long flights.
"The Movement Control System (MCS) will be able to identify false passports, visas or if a person is wanted or listed by police or Interpol in no time," said Barry Hore, head of IT at SARS.
He said the MCS was so highly developed that it could also read all the security features contained in passports from different countries. The system is able to store all the information that is scanned.
The MCS, which is linked to police stations and other government security agencies, is able to scan at least 65 security features in a passport, in less than 15 seconds.
The system was inspected by Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma at the OR Tambo International Airport, where it was being piloted. It will now be rolled out by SARS at 33 priority ports of entry countrywide.
ACSA executive officer George Frost said in the first week of its operation, the system picked up seven visa hits and one false passport.
Minister Dlamini Zuma said the system was part of a series of other interventions that her department would be implementing to facilitate the movement of the multitudes of soccer fans expected into the country in June and July.
"When we said we will be ready [for the World Cup] we meant it," said Dlamini Zuma, who inspected the operations of the system at both departure and arrival points at the airport.
Immigration Officer Boitumelo Mokobi praised the new system for the time it saved when processing arrivals and departures.
He said queues have been drastically reduced as it took him 10-15 seconds to check a passenger's passport. "The system is really amazing because I spend less time on each passenger."
Passenger Ellen Kofi, who arrived from Malawi, said she shared the same sentiment. "As you can see I hardly spent a minute in the queue ...it's a brilliant idea and I think it will go a long way in helping authorities in tackling crime in no time."
The MSC is being rolled out in conjunction with the Departments of Home Affairs, International Relations and Co-operation, South African Police Service and SARS.
