6.8m people travelled in and out of the country since December

More than 6.8 million people travelled in and out of the country since the beginning of December last year. File picture: Mujahid Safodien/AP

More than 6.8 million people travelled in and out of the country since the beginning of December last year. File picture: Mujahid Safodien/AP

Published Jan 21, 2019

Share

DURBAN - More than 6.8 million people travelled in and out of the country since the beginning of December last year.

The top nationalities cleared at South African ports of entry over the festive period from December 1 to January 15 were from Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, the UK, Germany, the US, Namibia and Zambia.

This is according to statistics released by Home Affairs Minister, Dr Siyabonga Cwele yesterday.

He said reasons for travel included tourism, cross border employment, business and education.

When comparing statistics for the period December 1 to January 15 over the past two years, the department saw a marginal increase of 0.61%.

Last year OR Tambo International Airport handled the highest volumes of travellers, 997167; followed by Beit Bridge with 884 992, Lebombo with 625 975, Ficksburg Bridge with 471 474 and Maseru Bridge with 428 038.

Reporting on Home Affairs extended operational hours for some offices, which was implemented this month, Cwele said more than 110 000 people had visited its offices in that period.

He said 297 000 IDs needed to be collected from various offices across the country. Most of the uncollected IDs were in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. 

- THE MERCURY 

Related Topics: