Cape Town - The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has announced that all its staff are set to undergo further training in order to improve competency and service delivery.
Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told journalists on Thursday that they had developed a "comprehensive training programme".
This would include a DHA qualification which should be recognised by the SA Qualifications Authority, she said.
The qualification aimed to "professionalise the competency and skills profile of all our officials across all services of the department".
It would cover areas such as immigration management, civic services, customer services and ethical conduct, she said.
Meanwhile, the department has also signed a deal with its defence counterpart for the transfer of 350 military officers set to serve as immigration officers.
A further 12 Cuban officials had been invited into the country to assist in the training of these officers who would then be posted at the OR Tambo International Airport.
Those immigration officers currently manning the airport were set to be trained and "redeployed' with the department.
Dlamini-Zuma said that government had entered into a cooperation agreement focusing on training with its Cuban counterpart.
She said that training offered by that country occurred "within the framework of existing and strategic political and economic bilaterial relations" between the two countries.
The minister said the transfer of the 350 military officers to her department was part of an agreement within the security cluster to share personnel in order to beef up service delivery.
The officers would be part of the training project supported by Cuban government, she said.
She said that once the military officers had been trained by the Cuban officials, they would be deployed at OR Tambo International Airport "which is a national key point for the country."
