Africa-Press – South-Africa. Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the newly acquired eVisa system was being abused.
He said 67 Pakistani nationals were denied access into the country at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Motsoaledi said they were intercepted in the early morning hours after they failed to answer questions about how long their visas entitled them to be in the country.
They were sent back to Pakistan, at their own cost.
“We are extremely worried by this new trend, and we have noticed that the newly acquired eVisa system, meant to facilitate easier entry into the country by tourists, is being seriously abused by some nationals. We will never allow this,” Motsoaledi said.
He said a sting operation by the department had uncovered that “certain trends were suspicious and did not make sense”.
The operation was done by the department’s Counter Corruption Branch, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), the State Security Agency and the Border Management Authority.
According to the statement, the 67 Pakistanis were among 268 passengers on a flight from Dubai.
“They were interviewed by immigration officers, and they were asked about where they were going, about the purpose of being in South Africa and where they were going to stay, given that they were coming here for the first time. They provided conflicting evidence, like giving names of non-existent hotels and names of alleged relatives, some of whom did not even exist.
Motsoaledi said:
The minister said some hotels had complained about an increase in the number of Pakistanis who book accommodation and don’t show up. The hotels are losing money because of such “dubious bookings”, and other potential visitors cannot book because the hotels are supposed to be full.
Motsoaledi said the department would be “more vigilant than ever before”.
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