SA is unable to handle the volume of applications that much smaller countries process in far less time and with far fewer resources.
A Home Affairs directive issued in December tells short-term visitors planning to extend their 90-day visas they may have to leave by 29 February.
South Africa, and the Western Cape in particular, stands to lose billions of rands in investment and tourism revenue because of visa backlogs at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

A DHA directive in December warns that the visa department is so backlogged with applications that visitors on 90-day visas planning to extend them for another 90 days will have to leave the country by 29 February unless they receive their visa renewals by 23 February.
This means a potentially foreshortened stay for the so-called ‘swallows’, many of them property and business investors in SA, who migrate to SA to escape the northern hemisphere winter.
Depending on their country of origin, many are granted automatic 90-day visas on arrival, which can be renewed for a further 90 days.

Those who received their 90-day visas on or before 30 November 2023 and do not receive a renewal by 23 February must “make the necessary arrangement to depart from SA on or before 29 February 2024, to avoid being declared undesirable” says the directive.
Those denied long-term visas and appealing the decisions have until 30 June 2024 to leave the country or risk being declared undesirable. However, they will be allowed to leave and re-enter the country before 30 June 2024 without risk of being declared undesirable.
Those awaiting a decision on applications for long-term visas are also allowed to stay in the country until 30 June 2024.
Tourism revenue at stake
Tourism officials in the Western Cape are concerned about the potential impact this will have on seasonal tourism revenue. Moneyweb has been told that several of them are engaging with the DHA to find ways to clear the visa backlog.

“This is going to cost the country dearly in terms of tourism revenue and investment,” says Gillian Saunders, an independent tourism consultant.
“These 90-day extensions are incredibly valuable because they bring 90 extra days of high-spending semi-residents. Then, separately, we have Indian and Chinese visitors struggling to get visas to come to SA, and a lot of people have

missed weddings and conferences because they could not get visas on time.
“Many other countries in the world are far more accommodating to tourists and will issue 180-day visas on entry, depending on your passport. The swallows or seasonal tourists bring an enormous amount of revenue into the country, and many have businesses and properties here where they employ locals.
t really should not be that hard to make it more attractive for them to visit SA, she adds.
“We could do this by granting them an automatic 180 days on arrival instead of having to make them run through hoops to extend their 90-day visas.”
SA introduced an electronic or e-visa system in February 2022 for travellers from 14 countries, which allows them to apply online and receive their visas via email within a few days. The countries eligible for e-visas are Cameroon, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, India, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Uganda.

The plan is to extend this list to include Australia, Canada, the US and EU member states. But until that happens, visitors from these countries will have to continue applying for visas through a South African embassy.

Home Affairs’ dysfunctional’
The DHA has been slammed by human rights and immigration attorneys as dysfunctional, in large measure because of the way it has handled immigration and exemption permits for Zimbabweans and Lesotho citizens.
By the DHA’s own admission, barely a day passes without it appearing (negatively) in the press. It has been forced to answer scores of court cases in recent years, most of which it lost, and has also been slapped with court orders of which it was not even aware.

Saunders says SA has some of the best tourism assets in the world, and Cape Town was recently voted the second-best city in the world by Time Out, beating out London, Berlin and Madrid.

That kind of endorsement is worth millions of US dollars in free advertising, but it is being squandered by bureaucrats unable after years of trying to handle the volume of applications that far smaller countries process in far less time with far fewer resources. V.5188

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is cracking down on corruption within its ranks and finalised 31 disciplinary cases between July and September 2024, some of which resulted in criminal prosecution and dismissal.One such individual, Mogale Raseone is set to have his trial start on 6 November. He is facing charges of fraud after being dismissed from the DHA in 2023 for manipulating department systems to fraudulently administer immigration for foreign nationals V.5655
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South Africa may be its own worst enemy when dealing with foreign nationals, says an ActionSA parliamentarian.Lerato Ngobeni held a series of oversight visits last week, with a keen focus on the Department of Home Affairs.In showcasing the successes of their first 100 days in parliament, Ngobeni gave an update on her observations from the previous year. V.5654
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Cape Town comes out tops in Long Haul Holiday Report 2024Cape Town has reclaimed its position as the best-value long haul destination for British tourists, according to the 2024 Long Haul Holiday Report from Post Office.Every year, the Post Office Travel Money Long Haul Holiday Report highlights the top destinations where UK travellers can get the best value for their money.They researched 32 faraway destinations worldwide and compared the costs of common holiday items like a cup of coffee, a bottle of water, and a three-course meal for two to find out which destinations offer the best value for money. V.5652
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Eight of these cases came from the Free State, while six came from KwaZulu-Natal. Between July and September 2024, the Department of Home Affairs finalised 31 disciplinary cases against its officials.According to spokesperson Siya Qoza, the disciplinary cases resulted in a range of sanctions. These include criminal prosecution, dismissal, suspension without pay and final written warnings. The officials faced transgressions relating to irregular recruitment, violation of the Citizenship Act and the violation of the Immigration Act. Eight of these cases came from the Free State, while six came from KwaZulu-Natal. Home Affairs officials nabbedOne of the includes that of an official who failed to abide by the required standards of ethical conduct. His trial is set to start on 6 November, facing fraud charges. The official was dismissed from the department last year after the conclusion of disciplinary processes. V.5653
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The Citizen tried Home Affairs services on wheels and found it to be disorganised. Residents have been using the mobile services provided by the Home Affairs trucks. Temperatures were soaring, with no chairs in sight and a long line ahead. This was the experience of a reporter when they lined up to try Home Affairs mobile services. The outreach programme sends trucks to areas to help make the department’s services more accessible to residents who find it difficult to reach their offices. V.5648
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The BMA has confirmed the new switch-over system, installed to expedite data capture and to prevent future disruptions.The glitches that recently interrupted the flow of international flights at the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) in KwaZulu-Natal have been sorted out, according to Mmemme Mogotsi, the deputy assistant commissioner for communications and marketing at the Border Management Authority (BMA). V.5649
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The Groblersbrug bridge across the Limpopo River is too narrow, many say, to handle the high volumes of traffic into Botswana. Source: SA Truckerorder transporters are waiting up to three days to pass through South Africas Groblersbrug border into Botswana because of a double whammy ` a new biometrics system implemented by the Border Management Authority (BMA), and ongoing barriers to entry at Beitbridge.Mike Fitzmaurice of the Transit Assistance Bureau explained that the BMA had implemented a new system whereby the biometrics of everyone, travellers and truck drivers alike, were recorded by immigration officials. Although it only takes about 15 minutes, the problem at Groblersbrug is there are only four immigration officers on duty during each shift.Compounding matters are existing impediments at Beitbridge forcing long-distance hauliers serving mines in the Copperbelt to drive around Zimbabwe.Unfortunately, Groblersbrug cant cope with the volume of traffic. V.5650
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The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has granted an unemployed woman permission to relocate to Australia with her children where she got a job. An unemployed woman has been granted permission to relocate to Australia with her two children, where she has secured a job, following her ex-husband`s refusal to allow them to leave the country. She sought relief from the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg after her ex-husband declined to sign the consent forms needed for her to apply for visas for herself and their children. V.5651
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Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber has gazetted far-reaching reforms for South Africa’s visa regime.The gazetting of the Remote Work Visitor Visa and the new Points-Based System for Work Visas on 9 October is said to remove bureaucratic hurdles which have hampered South Africa’s visa regime.Schreiber said that the “fit-for-purpose and market-friendly reforms would reposition South Africa as a world-class destination for investment and tourism to create thousands of new jobs. V.5642
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Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber has gazetted far-reaching reforms for South Africa’s visa regime.The gazetting of the Remote Work Visitor Visa and the new Points-Based System for Work Visas on 9 October is said to remove bureaucratic hurdles which have hampered South Africa’s visa regime.Schreiber said that the “fit-for-purpose and market-friendly reforms would reposition South Africa as a world-class destination for investment and tourism to create thousands of new jobs. V.5643
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