• SA’s messaging to tourists and business travellers remains opaque.
• New measures need swift implementation.
• More is needed to loosen SA`s `petrified capital`.
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If ever there was a perfect example of South Africa requiring a
burning platform before taking decisive action on the economy, it’s
encapsulated in Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba’s eventual
climbdown on some of the more damaging elements of the destructive
visa regime he implemented on his first sojourn at that department.
It has taken Gigaba three years to implement just some changes to the
visa regime which, as tourism and business lobby groups have pointed
out from the start, are damaging to the economy.
The amendments, if anything, serve to muddy the waters even further
when it comes to visa requirements.
The new measures â€` which are touted as enabling regular business
travellers to get extended visas, reducing requirements on citizens
from selected countries to get access to SA, and finally the dropping
of the ludicrous demand that the parents of foreign children carry
additional documentation in addition to their passports to get access
to the country - will require the retraining of legions of civil
servants who are barely attuned to the last set of maddening rules.
It’s impossible to quantify exactly how much damage has been done to
tourism over the past three years as government messaging around visa
requirements varied between the murky to the destructive.
Some 13,000 families are reported to have been turned away from
boarding flights to South Africa because they didn’t have the
appropriate documentation demanded by South Africa’s Home Affairs
department. It’s unclear how many more would simply have made
alternative travel choices rather than be lumbered with the
inconvenience of restrictive rules.
The effort taken to visit South Africa has seen the country
significantly underperform in a booming global industry, which is
currently growing north of 5% a year. Grant Thornton puts growth in
tourism numbers to South Africa at half that.
It’s a massive wasted opportunity.
President Cyril Ramaphosa flagged tourism as one of the critical
elements of his stimulus plan for the country. There is a direct
correlation between an increase in visitor numbers and jobs created in
the industry. The tourism industry calculates that one new job is
created for every nine additional tourists to the country.
South Africa’s tourism numbers are blurred by the inability of Home
Affairs to distinguish between migrant workers who repatriate a large
portion of their earnings, and those whose spend goes directly on
tourism and domestic consumption. Greater clarity is needed in
defining the difference between genuine tourism, business travel and
those who travel across borders for work.
The Tourism Business Council of South Africa, while unimpressed with
the visa changes, is appealing for their speedy and efficient
implementation to ease the burden on travellers this season. The
reality is that

foreign tourists going to long-haul destinations like
South Africa plan significantly in advance and the changes are
unlikely to have any real impact on the current tourist season. There
is an immediate effect of bad regulation and a lag in repairing the
damage it has caused.
Home Affairs` belligerence on domestic travellers requiring permission
to travel out of the country by non-travelling parents and to carry
unabridged birth certificates in addition to passports, remains a
ridiculous bureaucratic burden for South Africans looking to travel
abroad. The decision to force parents to grant permission for every
trip was based on fake data of child trafficking from South Africa and
remains a serious impediment to travelling families.
There is progress in other areas.
Visitors from China and India will no longer have to travel in person
across the vast expanses of their respective countries to apply for
visas in person, but will be allowed to use intermediaries. The long
overdue introduction of biometric movement control systems at the
country’s busiest airports should go some way to reduce congestion on
arrival at South African ports of entry. Speed and implementation are
of the essence.
Ramaphosa’s planned stimulus package announced on Friday showed that
government was coming to terms with the fact that “business as usual”
was no longer working. He promised greater clarity not only on
tourism, but mining and land reform too.
Ratings agency Fitch, which already has a sub-investment grade rating
on South African debt, has expressed reservations about the
significance of the measures unveiled by the president last week
amidst concerns that Moody’s, the only major ratings agency which
retains an investment grade rating on SA, is considering the soundness
of its position.
‘Petrified capital’
In his address to the UN in New York this week, the president used the
opportunity to quell concerns about policy and the impact of land
reform on property rights. The movement on visas, while positive, is
hardly the radical overhaul needed to announce South Africa is open
for business.
The president has tasked a group of veteran business leaders including
former Standard Bank CEO Jacko Maree and the former finance minister
and now Old Mutual chairperson, Trevor Manuel, with raising $100bn in
foreign direct investment over five years.
Ramaphosa will be hoping that by talking up opportunities for reforms,
he will encourage South African CEOs to loosen the purse strings on
the so-called “lazy capital” locked into domestic balance sheets.
Perhaps we should use the term “petrified capital” which like
fossilised wood has turned to stone is immovable and stuck in time.
Our messaging around SA being open for business needs to change
quickly if we are to grasp the nettle on an economic rebound. V.2487

One of the highlighted topics: Critical Skills Visa.

- Key Insight: Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast track to working in South Afr...
- This matter relates to critical skills visa and its broader implications.
- Individuals are advised to seek professional guidance.

Is your profession on the Critical Skills List? This visa is your fast trac V.6139
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One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, became a victim of identity theft in 2012 when fraudulent transactions occurred, using her personal details.

-The Pretoria High Court found that the department of home affairs had violated constitutional rights without due process.
-Only half of Lawyers for Human Rights` test group has been unblocked, while 385 000 identities remain blocked nationwide.
-LHR appeals extension, urges affected people to seek help now.

Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) are intensifying pressure on the department of home affairs over the national ID-blocking crisis, accusing the state of acting too slowly to unblock qualifying individuals despite a landmark court ruling.

In January last year, the Pretoria High Court found that the department`s practice of blocking IDs without due process was unlawful and unconstitutional. One of the applicants, Phindile Mazibuko, a Swati citizen and South African permanent resident since 1998, fell victim to identity theft in 2012 when fraudsters used her personal details.

 V.6133
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6128
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6129
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A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in US immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday.

Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the US since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn`t want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN.

 V.6130
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On 22 July 2025, the Gauteng High Court dismissed Sitrusrand Boerdery`s review of the Department of Employment and Labour`s refusal to issue a Working Conditions and Salary Benchmarking Certificate, an essential precondition for obtaining corporate visas under the Immigration Act.

Acting Judge Kekana AJ held that the Department`s decision was lawful, rational and procedurally fair. This judgment illustrates how businesses can - and must - structure their corporate visa applications to meet statutory requirements, and how legal practitioners should prepare robust review challenges when administrative authorities decline to recommend foreign-work permits.

 V.6131
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The United States could forfeit an estimated 9.4 billion dollars in visitor spending over the next three years following the introduction of a new 250 dollars `visa integrity fee,` according to industry groups, who warn the policy risks undermining tourism and costing thousands of jobs.
The United States’ decision to introduce a 250 dollars `visa integrity fee` on international visitors has triggered sharp criticism from the global tourism industry, with officials warning that the measure could deter millions of travellers and cost the U.S. economy billions.
The 250dollar `visa integrity fee,` part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, will take effect later this year. According to immigration law firm Envoy Global, it applies to all nonimmigrant visa holders which include students, tourists, temporary workers, and business visitors particularly from African countries. V.6132
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The Border Management Authority (BMA) has doubled its staff at Airports in South Africa , including immigration officers.

What does this mean for travelers? V.6127
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1. Right to Legal Representation•You have the right to consult with a legal representative.•Contact an immigration practitioner, legal aid clinic, or attorney urgently.•Do not sign any documents without understanding them fully. 2. Section 34 of the Immigration Act•You must be brought to court with 48 hours to confirm arrest but you can remain locked up very long as courts figure out what to do with you •If you`re found to be illegally in South Africa, you may be detained for up to 30 days (extendable by a magistrate) pending deportation.•BUT this cannot happen arbitrarily. You must be informed of your rights, and Home Affairs must follow due process.- becomes a nightmare , you could lose your job , business , place to stay V.6121
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Driving for Bolt, Uber, Mr D, or Checkers Sixty60?If you`re undocumented, you`re risking more than just your income.The Risks if You`re Not Legal: - Vehicle impoundment - Heavy fines - Arrest & deportation - Permanent bans from working in SA V.6122
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