Senior South African officials have confirmed that the country will introduce biometric border controls after stricter visa rules were blamed for a dip in tourism numbers.Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said on Friday that the nation will now accept visa requests by post and set up biometric testing at its airports.In the next three months‚ Cabinet has now mandated the Department of Home Affairs to Implement the capturing of biometrics at ports of entry starting with a pilot project at OR Tambo‚ King Shaka and Cape Town airports.Last year, the Home Affairs Ministry introduced rules requiring applications be made in person at embassies, where people's biometrics would be taken. It also said children had to be accompanied by one natural parent when traveling and that they have a full birth certificate stating the names of both parents.Since then, the number of air passengers under 18 years of age traveling to and from the country fell 50 percent from a year earlier in June and July due to the birth-certificate requirements.In one year and beyond‚ Cabinet also wants the Department to install systems for pre-flight checks at international airports and upgrade Advance Passenger Processing systems.
South Africa to deploy biometric border capture at airports
