City and WC govt seconding staff to smooth international arrivals at Cape Town Airport

CapeTalk's John Maytham talks to Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis about the initiative.

Cape Town International Airport is getting a manpower boost to smooth the arrivals experience for international visitors.

This will see a near-doubling in capacity of the Border Management Authority’s (BMA's) immigration officials in partnership with the Western Cape Government (WCG) and the City of Cape Town (CoCT).

The initiative was launched at the airport on Monday, with all three spheres of government present.

 A total of 48 assistant port control officers will be seconded by the City and WCG, taking total immigration processing capacity at Cape Town International from 66 to 114.

 'When we all pull together, the whole tourism economy benefits', said Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis at the launch.

In conversation with John Maytham, the Mayor highlights the staffing constraints the BMA has to deal with not only at the airport, but at our borders.

"I do receive a lot of complaints from airport arrivals, particularly during the December to March peak season, and then you can get two- to three-hour queues regularly, in fact almost daily."

Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor of Cape Town

"The Border Management Authority’s short-staffed everywhere - yesterday I was quite horrified to learn that they only have 1,200 border staff for the whole of South Africa."

Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor of Cape Town

It's understandable then that the airport is not necessarily the Authority's highest priority, says Hill-Lewis, and that is why they're stepping in to help.

To hear more from the Cape Town Mayor, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article