Tourists flock to SA in their masses

"This figure is expected to rise further as the World Cup enters the semi-finals and the final phases of the tournament," spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said in a statement.

The Movement Control system (MCS) was launched by Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and it is linked to Sars as well as law enforcement agencies. This system allows the country to monitor the movements of people entering the country and it has been working overtime during the period leading up to the and during the World Cup.

MCS recorded the number of foreigners visiting the country between 1 June and 1 July and it totalled at 1 020 321 compared to 819 495 for the same period in 2009. This is an creased of as much as 25%.

"During the same period South Africa's Advanced Passenger Processing System witnessed a total of 43 undesirables being prohibited from boarding airlines abroad to enter South Africa."

The Home Affairs airline liaison has revealed that entry to South Africa has been denied to 188 people due to fraudulent documents like visas, permits and other travel documents which failed to meet immigration requirements.

Mamoepa also said that the other African counties which are popular amongst tourists are Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Malawi and Zambia.

The quarter-final clash between Argentina and Germany on Saturday attracted a record number of 300 000 fans to Cape Town's inner city.

The Cape Town stadium was packed to capacity with 64 100 spectators and 42 000 people passed through the Grand Parade fan area, according to authorities.