In a bid to strengthen immigration enforcement capacity, the Department of Home Affairs aims to recruit an additional 301 immigration officers.
Currently, the department has only 868 immigration officers.
In a statement released on Monday, the Department said, “This limited capacity is expected to support immigration enforcement across the entire country.”
“Despite the severe resource constraints that the department continues to face, reprioritisation work has been done to enable the recruitment of this cohort of additional Immigration Officers.”
“The increase from 868 to 1 169 officers will enhance enforcement capacity by 35%.”
The department explained that this is being done in conjunction with other initiatives alongside National Treasury to secure additional resources to further boost digital transformation and capacity-building initiatives.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, said the recruitment drive forms part of the department’s broader reforms to build a secure, digital and fit-for-purpose immigration system that serves the national interest.
“By appointing 301 additional immigration officers, we are now making one of the biggest investments in immigration enforcement capacity in years, strengthening our ability to uphold the rule of law and protect the integrity of South Africa’s immigration system.”
