Pretoria - The 2010 FIFA World Cup brought with it more than 1.4 million tourists to the country, most of whom were first time visitors to South Africa.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, this was a 25 percent increase in the number of international visitors from the same time last year.
Assessing the performance of her department during the World Cup, Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said at least 1.4 million people had entered the country with minimal fuss and those who were not wanted in country were successfully kept out.
The good news is that some of the initiatives implemented by Home Affairs to facilitate the smooth movement of people in and out of the country during the biggest sporting event ever will remain in place.
The department had implemented a good few measures to lend support to the world cup. Some of these included its Movement Control System in 34 air and land ports of entry, the Advance Passenger Processing (APP) system and the deployment of Airline Liaison Officers (ALOs) at eight strategic hubs abroad, namely Nairobi, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Dubai, Frankfurt, Lagos, London and Mumbai to monitor the movement of travellers into South Africa.
The department had further prioritised 34 air and land ports of entry including OR Tambo, Cape Town and King Shaka International Airports for daily monitoring, provision of early warning signals and the implementation of contingency planning for the world cup.
The success of the MCS was widely applauded and is now expected to be rolled out elsewhere.
"The Movement Control System will be extended to the rest of the ports of entry so in the end all the ports of the country will have the same system," minister Dlamini Zuma said.
According to the Movement Control System (MCS), international visitors had come mainly from Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Malawi and Zambia followed by the USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Brazil and Mexico, to witness their teams battle it out for the acclaimed prize, as well as to enjoy the sights and sounds of South Africa.
The APP System saw 43 "undesirables" being prohibited from boarding flights to get to South Africa.
The airline liaison officers deployed at international airports also had a hand in preventing 188 people from entering the country.
Those denied entry were either in possession of fraudulent visas, travel documents and stamps or had failed to meet immigration requirements
