The Border Management Authority is beefing up border security in anticipation of increased activity at ports of entry as festive season travel intensifies.

With the festive season fast approaching, the Border Management Authority (BMA) and the Department of Home Affairs have begun preparations for increased traffic at South Africa's 71 ports of entry as holidaymakers and foreigners living and working in the country embark on their annual travels.

The BMA unveiled its operational plan for the 2024/25 festive season before the parliamentary home affairs committee on Tuesday, 26 November.

Over the past three years, movement through the country's port of entry during the festive season increased by 198% compared with the numbers the nation saw during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

While the BMA estimated last year that movement would return to the pre-lockdown level of more than six million, the body said that even though movement had increased since 2021/22, it was hard to estimate the numbers this year due to the impending expiry of Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) and Lesotho Exemption Permit (LEP) on 31 December.

Official figures say 90,314 Lesotho nationals are LEP holders while South Africa has 178,000 ZEP holders.

"It is yet to be seen whether the 2024 25 festive season will register an increase...