SA piloting 2010 event visa

2009-06-12 14:50

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is greeted by Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at the airport in Joburg, ahead of the Confederations Cup tournament. (AP)

Johannesburg - An event visa allowing soccer fans to gain entry to the country speedily will be piloted during the Confederations Cup, Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Friday.

"There is an events visa that we are piloting for 2010. Our officials have gone to Cairo to work with Egyptian officials to pilot it... to check if there are any hitches before we roll it out," she said.

Only Egyptian spectators will use the visa during the Confederations Cup, which kicks off on Sunday.

If all runs smoothly, the visa will be rolled out for all visiting spectators during the 2010 World Cup.

Must produce tickets

To apply for the visa spectators need only produce tickets proving that they are indeed going to the Confederations Cup.

It was not immediately known how long it would take to process the visa but Dlamini-Zuma said applicants will get their visas "almost immediately" unlike the four to seven day waiting period for the usual tourist visas.

Also, the visa will be issued free of charge for the Confederations Cup.

Dlamini-Zuma made this announcement at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg following a walk-about organised to show her the airport's readiness to accept international visitors for the cup.

She said she was confident the airport was ready to process thousands of visitors expected in the country during the Confederations Cup.

"I am very happy with what I have seen... the infrastructure, the people, the systems are ready," she said.

Extra immigration officials

She said extra immigration officials had also been deployed to border gates like Beit Bridge and Lebombo to process soccer fanatics who would be travelling into the country by road. Staff had also been beefed up at the Cape Town and the OR Tambo International airports, with 99 more officials employed at OR Tambo since September last year.

This brought the number of immigration officials at the airport to 254, compared to the 88 officials just three years ago.

Confederations Cup booths with information officials, and self-help booths where spectators can purchase and collect tickets have been set up throughout the airport.

Dlamini-Zuma's visit to the airport comes just three days after the airport's general manager Chris Hlekane announced that plans are in place to accommodate the visitors who will arrive at the airport for the soccer tournament.

He said on Wednesday that Fifa delegates and teams arriving in the country for the Confederations Cup would be facilitated separately from the general public to avoid congestion.

Dlamini-Zuma was shown the path these visitors will follow from their point of arrival until they get to the transport waiting for them outside the airport.

- SAPA