South Africa: Delays At King Shaka International Airport Linked to 'Challenges' With New Biometric System, Says Acsa

4 August 2024
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Victoria O'regan

Airports Company South Africa says a technical team is working on improving the situation at the airport.

Listen to this article 6 min Listen to this article 6 min Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has said delays in processing passengers at King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) are linked to "post-implementation challenges" with a new biometric control system.

In a statement on Saturday, 3 August, the state-owned airports operator responded to recent media reports about delays in processing travellers at King Shaka International, "linking these to the biometric and digital identity technology".

advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove adsAcsa manages South Africa's nine principal airports, including OR Tambo International in Gauteng, Cape Town International in the Western Cape and King Shaka International in KwaZulu-Natal.

According to the statement, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and the Border Management Agency (BMA) are implementing the Biometric Movement Control System (BMCS) at the immigration and emigration points in three of Acsa's airports. Acsa said the system was rolled out at OR Tambo International and Cape Town International in 2022.

"We can confirm that the BMCS, which was introduced at KSIA in the last few weeks, has been experiencing post-implementation challenges, causing long queues in the immigration areas," it said.

"The BMA's technical team is working on improving the...

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