JOHANNESBURG - The Border Management Authority (BMA) said neighbouring countries have agreed to extend hours at ports of entry.
The BMA is tightening coordination to improve cross-border movement ahead of the Easter weekend.
BMA Commissioner Mike Masiapato said they had conducted extensive port-based inter-jurisdictional discussions with our six immediate neighbouring countries.
“Here we talk about Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Eswatina, as well as Botswana. These discussions were focused mainly in maintaining streamlined border processes, but also enhancing coordination in terms of operational modalities,” Masiapato said.
The BMA is anticipating a sharp increase in cross-border travel during the Easter long weekend.
Commissioner Mike Masiapato expects daily volumes to exceed 25-thousand travellers at major ports of entry.
“During these peak periods, we expect significant traveller as well as traffic volumes potentially reaching double the baseline and exceeding around 25 000 travellers per day, particularly at our busiest spots of entry. Just last year in the 2025 Easter period, just in this kind of a period of 10 days, we were able to register over 11 057,063 movements of which the majority were processed by our three top ports.
“And those are O.R. Tambo International Airport. Just last year, they did 220,000 plus individuals just in a period of 10 days.
And we have seen they were followed by Lebombo, where they did 161,000 plus just in a period of 10 days.
“And we have seen Beitbridge doing over 122,000 just in a period of 10 days.
Collectively, these three ports are counted for more than 50% of the travellers.
That is over 504 000 individuals that were done by only these two ports in this period last year.
Therefore, we are expecting an increase of these figures as we go into this 2026 Easter period.”
Masiapato said tools like drones and body cameras would boost surveillance and accountability at ports of entry.
Newly introduced high security passport stamps will also help trace and hold officials accountable for any illegal processing.
In KwaZulu-Natal eThekwini is gearing up for the Easter weekend visitor influx.
Mayor Cyril Xaba said the city is prepared and plans are in place to make sure visitors are safe.
“More than 1.2 million visitors could descend on Durban, injecting a direct spend of about 2.6 billion Rand into the city's economy. Average accommodation occupancy is expected to be around 62 percent, while the creation of employment opportunities is estimated at 16,000. Our main goal is to ensure that when visitors come to Durban they stay longer and spend their money here.
"Our preparations for the Easter holiday season include a comprehensive and integrated law enforcement plan which has been developed jointly by Metropolis, SAPS, Private Security, the KwaZulu-Natal Road Traffic Inspectorate, Home Affairs and Customs. As a city, we have pulled out all the stops to ensure high police visibility. Over 1,000 officers were on duty throughout the municipality, patrolling our streets, beaches and places of entertainment 24 hours a day," Xaba added.