No end in sight for ORTIA delays

THE long delays
experienced by travellers
passing through
immigration at Johannesburg’s
OR Tambo International Airport
are likely to continue as the
Department of Home Affairs
has confirmed it will not be
assigning additional personnel
to man the immigration desks
at the airport.
Home Affairs spokesperson,
Mayihlome Tshwete, says,
while the department has
acknowledged the human
resource challenges at OR
Tambo International, it is
not embarking on any staff
intake exercise due to cost
containment measures
as prescribed by National
Treasury.
“We are working on a plan to
rationalise staff, and only once
that process is completed
will we be in a position to
redirect some officials to these
centres,” Mayihlome says.
He could not offer a timeline
on when these issues
would be resolved.
Last month, Mayihlome
told TNW the issue of staff
absenteeism at airport
immigration had been resolved
(see TNW, August 31). But
travellers have continued to
report first-hand accounts of
standing in long queues trying
to clear immigration – with
many sources arguing that
staff shortages at passport
control were the primary cause
of delays.
“We were in the queue at
immigration for two hours
and made the flight with
seconds to spare, but several
passengers were offloaded
behind us because only four
immigration counters were
open,” one traveller said on
Twitter.
Another disgruntled traveller
said he’d waited “well over
45 minutes because only
two people were working (at
the immigration desks) while
several others were wandering
around”.
June Crawford, ceo of Barsa,
says airlines flying to and from
international destinations are
also affected.
“We must find ways to make
the experience at OR Tambo
more efficient by ensuring all
parties have the willingness to
find solutions.”
Inge Beadle, manager of
Corporate Travel Services, says
the introduction of a standby
passport officer dedicated to
handling issues at immigration
would relieve pressure on
regular staff and increase
efficiency. “Heathrow has this
sort of system and it helps
things run smoothly at that
airport.”
Mayihlome says the
department will continue
to seek measures to serve
travellers efficiently, “albeit
with limited resources”.