THE introduction of
biometric capturing has
highlighted a bigger issue
– the need for more staff – at
OR Tambo International Airport.
The chaos that erupted
following the changeover
to the biometric system on
July 1 resulted in travellers
experiencing delays of up to
three hours.
The process includes
capturing fingerprints and
an eye scan and is for both
inbound and outbound
travellers.
“I had family members
spend two to three hours
in a crush of people trying
not to miss their flight on
Friday night,” said one TNW
reader. “Eventually, my
67-year-old aunt stamped
her own passport in
desperation in order to catch
the soon-to-depart plane
after the immigration agent
inexplicably left her standing
for 15 minutes. She was then
arrested and spent the night
in jail.”
The normal processing time
for passport holders is 40
seconds, says John Murray,
administration manager of the
Airline Operators Committee
(AOC). “Biometrics takes
three times as long as that. If
you have 10 staff and 1 000
passengers being processed
at 120 seconds per person, it
starts to add up.”
DHA spokesperson,
Mayihlome Tshwete, says
the department is aware
that the introduction of
biometrics requires a slightly
longer clearance time per
passenger, especially during
the first capture of a full set
of fingerprints. “However,
for subsequent movements,
processing times will
significantly reduce as it only
requires verification of one
fingerprint.”
Industry authorities say the
fundamental problem is that
the airport is short-staffed.
“There are definitely not
enough staff at the airport,”
says June Crawford, ceo
of Barsa, adding that staff
shortages have been
a problem for months.
“The situation has simply
been compounded by the
biometrics.”
John says biometrics are
a good thing. Aside from
enabling future visas on
arrival, the initiative will also
allow authorities to implement
fast-track projects. “We
support Home Affairs in this
initiative. There’s just a lack of
manpower to implement it. As
people go they can’t replace
them. In government, there
are strict rules about replacing
people who’ve left,” he says.
“When I arrived at the South
African passport holder entry
points on May 31, only three
desks out of 12 were manned
by staff. Another five desks out
of 15 were open for foreign
passport holders,” says
corporate travel expert, Inge
Beadle of XL Corporate Travel.
“If there were more staff
attending to passengers during
this period we would have a lot
fewer delays.”
“OR Tambo has long had a
problem with skeleton staff
working on public holidays
and weekends,” commented
another agent.
In response, however, the
DHA says it has deployed
sufficient staff to process
travellers and, when necessary,
strengthens capacity through
the deployment of additional
officials.
Agents are advised to
tell their travellers to factor
additional time for check-in
and immigration processes.
While the roll-out of the
biometric system may cause
complications at other airports
around the country, John says
these would likely be to a
lesser degree as they don’t
process the same volumes as
OR Tambo.
