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As the 2010 FIFA World Cup games momentum, South Africa is witnessing a steady increase in the arrival of foreign visitors into the country for the most beautiful spectacle and indeed the historic first ever African hosted 2010 FIFA World Cup.

By Thursday 24 June 2010, the Home Affairs Movement Control System, launched by Minister Dlamini Zuma and operated in conjunction with SARS and linked to law enforcement agencies, recorded the total volume of foreign travellers as 744 520 for the period 01-24 June 2010. An additional 32 743 foreign travellers arrived as at 24 June 2010.

In this regard, and in terms of government guarantees to FIFA, the Department of Home Affairs has prioritized 34 air and land ports of entry for daily monitoring, the provision of early warning signals and the implementation of contingency planning for the FIFA 2010 World Cup. Through the Home Affairs 24 hour Operational Centre, the Department is monitoring the movements of travellers via the Movement Control System (MCS), the Advanced Passenger Processing (APP) system and the deployment of Airline Liaison Officers (ALOs) at strategic hubs abroad. Further Home Affairs guarantees to FIFA include the issuance of Visas and Priority Treatment

During the same period (1-24 June), the top five nationalities entering the country remains SADC states of Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland and Botswana, followed by the United Kingdom, USA, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, France, Netherlands, Zambia and Argentina.

During the same reporting period (1-24 June), 13 638 contraventions have been identified at various air and land Ports of entry comprising individuals overstaying in terms of their entry conditions, penalties for temporary residence permit abuses and occurrences where a passport was flagged as lost/stolen.

During the period 1-24 June, 38 hits were registered through the APP and these travellers were subsequently denied permission to board due to their travel documents being non-compliant with immigration requirements including visas, expired or fraudulent travel documents and being placed on the Visa and Entry Stop List.

The Department of Home Affairs has through its Airline Liaison Officers deployed in Amsterdam, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Lagos and Nairobi prevented a further 102 travellers from boarding flights to South Africa.

During the reporting period, 135 incidents involving unlawful passports, emergency travel documents, refusals based on expired permits and prohibited persons were recorded through the Department's Border and Incident Management programme.