Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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I fly a reasonable amount and have to say that leaving South Africa is one of the hardest things to do. Not because it is a wonderful country, but because the immigration officials simply cannot process the people in time. I recently spent more than 1 hour 20 minutes to go through security and immigration control and it was not because of security!
There are never enough officials to deal with all the international flights in the evening, particularly not on a Sunday night and everybody has their own excuse. The immigration officials struggle so much to cope that they even stopped the security people from scanning people until they can clear the queues. The supervisor I spoke to claimed it was a new system that was causing the problems. The actual immigration official I spoke to said that was nonsense and they are not on a new system, they are back on the old system and that he cannot be to blame if he came to work – suggesting that there were people who were meant to be at work, but who did not come. I asked him why they did not hire more staff or deal with those and he pointed me to the supervisor, being the man that just told me it was due to the new system and so I should ask him.
The security officials then told me the problem was that they had a staff shortage. The bottom line is it creates a very poor impression on people that visit the country and you don’t want people to have to stand in queues for 1 hour 20 minutes before they leave (or for that matter enter), because apart from creating a poor impression you will force one or two of them to miss their flight and have to stay overnight in an hotel. That is the best way to convince people that we live in an inefficient and poorly administered country and when we want to encourage them to invest in our country, to visit our country and to promote our country, we don’t need to create a poor impression on their way out! When people walk in through the door to your house, your office or your country you need to look good and be friendly and efficient!
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Monday 15-Aug-16
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Comments
Suzanne said:
on Wednesday 28-Sep-16 09:04 AM
I can't imagine how draining it must be, when you have just had a wonderful trip to SA and you are stuck for a few hours just leaving the country.
Brenda van den Bergh said:
on Friday 02-Sep-16 08:59 AM
I must say that the experience we had in May this year when my brother left for America was also absolutely shocking. It took almost 2 hours just to get his lugguage checked in, which left us very little time to spend with him before his flight. I was not impressed with the service received and it puts people off from flying completely. I really hope that they jack the system up at the airport as that is the first impression foreigners get of our country upon their arrival, and if their experience is terrible we will see less and less people travelling to our country from abroad.
Kaylee said:
on Friday 19-Aug-16 03:54 PM
Shocking but unsuprising I guess. Mind you Thailand immigration was hell and we spent 3 hours trying to get through immigration.
Sarah said:
on Friday 19-Aug-16 02:22 PM
Not surprising to me to hear about poor service in South Africa again.
We seriously need to look at customer service.
Ashleigh said:
on Friday 19-Aug-16 08:48 AM
When I hear understaffed I immediately think that its because the company does not want to pay for more staff and companies clearly don't think about how this can affect their customers as it always results in bad service and they actually lose their clients for it. Airports should be one of the most affective with service delivery as its foreigners first actual impression on the country.
Melissa P said:
on Friday 19-Aug-16 08:33 AM
Not surprising at all. It's shocking to think that this is the impression people get when visiting our country. This is unacceptable for an international airport.
Jessica Apfel said:
on Thursday 18-Aug-16 12:56 PM
I have been to airports across Africa where there is one person removing the luggage from the plane and manually moving it across a broken conveyor belt. Yes, our service delivery may not be something to write home about, it is certainly miles apart from other African nations.
Jessica Apfel said:
on Thursday 18-Aug-16 12:53 PM
I see an opportunity to employ! We should all implore such an attitude and instead of emphasisng the negative, think about how the situation can be turned around. If there arent enough personnel to conduct the security checks.
Sally said:
on Thursday 18-Aug-16 12:43 PM
Customer service and service delivery is shocking in our country. And to have such bad service at an international airport is bad for the country's economy, not that South Africa can afford any more bad publicity.
Tamaryn said:
on Thursday 18-Aug-16 12:43 PM
It boils down to work ethic and pride in one's job (and country, for that matter).
Cornelie said:
on Thursday 18-Aug-16 12:12 PM
This is nothing new in our country we have poor service delivery every where doesn't matter where you go and we have a large tourist attraction if we invest more in customer service we can get so much more tourists that will come back to the country.
Prishani said:
on Thursday 18-Aug-16 11:43 AM
If the real reason and excuse for poor customer service was a staff shortage, I find that truly shocking as there should be no excuse in terms of hiring and training new people especially with the employment issues facing our country! Support staff should always be available in the event that a large number of staff are not able to perform their duties.
Latoya said:
on Wednesday 17-Aug-16 11:35 AM
This is not a surprise to me ,as they always have problems and not reliable. I experienced the airline cancelling a few days notice and had to move to a different airline as well as a time change. Which was a huge inconvenience.
Lourien said:
on Wednesday 17-Aug-16 08:53 AM
You would think that they are clued up and actually focused on customer satisfaction and being very attentive to time and making sure there are no delays, but at the end of the day they are trying to cut costs and are not worried about getting the people through on time. OR Tambo should actually be working on their services and making sure that there are no future problems like this. Not only is it dangerous not scanning the people through but its a flight hazard - something needs to be done!
Daniella said:
on Wednesday 17-Aug-16 08:52 AM
Im not actually surprised, They should have enough staff to replace the ones that are absent, or have a better system. You would think that an airport would put these things into consideration.
Alexis said:
on Wednesday 17-Aug-16 08:33 AM
Service delivery in SA is not great. People do not care as much as they should. It is a problem. If ev eryone did what they meant to do, things would run smoother
Thabitha said:
on Wednesday 17-Aug-16 07:42 AM
What is the job of the supervisor he/she doesn't qualify to be a supervisor and when you are listening to the news South Africa is not the only country that deliver bad service, my biggest nightmare to stand in a queue
Joyce said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 04:43 PM
Sounds like not good customer service plan
Angelique P said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 12:12 PM
The first impression of a place is very important.
I dont understand why they are short staffed. Its a big place that makes lots of money and are very busy just hire more people and the issue will be solved.
Lucretia said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 11:09 AM
Service delivery is terrible all over our country. It is so sad because we have such a beautiful country. It is small things like this that make us a 3rd world country. We never used to be...........
daria said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 10:49 AM
South Africa definitely needs to jack up their service. when I arrive at any airport I expect their service to be great and well organized. I agree that it gives a county a bad name.
Mathilda said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 09:23 AM
I have been watching Border security Australia and I must say I have never seen such a well-run airport and their security is absolutely amazing and you will never see people standing in queues for hours they have more than enough staff that are willing to help you and they make it as convenient as possible .
Then you look as SAs airports and all you can do is laugh its a circus, they are Under staffed, Security is a joke and the staff they have are Incompetent&I can just imagine what other countrys think of us
Liesl said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 09:04 AM
Our country has been mismanaged for a very long time now and as a result all services in general have reached the bottom of the barrel. Let's hope with new parties gaining more and more power that things can start to turn for the better.
Nina said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 09:04 AM
It is a fact that these days there are far more tourists visting our Country, especially after the 2010 Soccer World Cup. This will only keep on increasing and because of this it is extremely important for our airports to adjust to the change in order to create a good impression.
Juliet said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 08:38 AM
I wonder what the people of this country do do that is efficient and impressive? Is there really nothing positive about living here?
Clare said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 08:38 AM
This is such rubbish I can not believe the service Delivery in this Country, I mean its not like Flights are cheap, and because you are understaffed means you can miss your flight. I also have see reports on Low maintenance on these aircraft. Scary
Melissa said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 08:20 AM
Service is one of the most important aspects of creating a professional image. This just gives a bad impression on the country's efficiency and therefore makes it a least pleasurable experience for consumers.
Sandra said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 08:15 AM
There should be better maintenance within the airport - especially an international airport, because it creates a first impression of the country.
Zindy said:
on Monday 15-Aug-16 07:48 AM
Quiet shocking for an international airport. To make clients miss there flight because of them being understaffed is even more appalling. I would be really upset if that had to happen to me.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
