Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba says the management of migration should not be the responsibility of a single country.

Speaking at The New Age (TNA) business briefing at the Monte Casino in Fourways on Wednesday, the Minister said it was important that the movement of people be controlled. “In any country the movement of people is controlled,” he said.

There was a need for South Africa to engage further with the neighbouring countries.

President Jacob Zuma last month convened the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration to ensure all aspects of migration are handled efficiently, including the social, economic and security aspects.

The department believes that along with the policy review process and initiatives on border management, the country’s management of international migration will significantly improve.

In ensuring that people are served efficiently, the department recently announced new office hours at Home Affairs offices. Office hours are now from 7:30am to 4:30pm, including a 30-minute lunch break with opening and closing hours for serving clients from 8am to 4pm.

The Moetapele Leadership Initiative, launched by Gigaba earlier this month, will also ensure members of the public receive consistently high quality service from Home Affairs officials.

Under the Moetapele Leadership Initiative, the department will improve the performance of officials who serve the public directly to ensure that they serve efficiently and effectively with courtesy and good manners.

All Home Affairs officials are expected to have their name tags bearing their faces when serving clients. The initiative also encourages officials to practice leadership in their different areas.

At the time, the Minister said the days when managers disappeared to the back of the office, clueless of challenges of the clients, were gone. He said managers needed to be visible.

As from September this year, people will be able to submit their ID applications from home using the internet and they will only have to visit the Home Affairs offices for their ID photos and finger prints to be taken.

Answering questions on Operation Fiela, Gigaba said the campaign was aimed at dealing with crime.

A total of 3 914 arrests have been made since the launch of the operation‚ which is being run in conjunction with the SA National Defence Force‚ police and immigration officials.

Of these‚ 2 264 were South Africans nabbed for various crimes. A total of 1 650 were undocumented foreign nationals.