Cape Town - Forged bank statements, insufficient funds on submitted bank statements, fabricated invitation letters and falsified hotel reservations are just some of the reasons South African missions abroad rejected 98 000 tourist visa applications from around the world.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi shared a document which showed 98 760 tourist visa applications had been rejected during the 2021/2022 financial year.
The figures were collated from South Africa’s embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic posts abroad.
Motsoaledi shared the reasons and the statistics in a written parliamentary response to a series of questions asked by DA parliamentary tourism spokesperson Manny de Freitas.
Yesterday, De Freitas said that â€` based on the minister’s reply â€` he would be asking more questions to find out the exact circumstances.
“I’m saying there are many applicants and I want to know why they are being rejected.”
He said South Africa’s tourism figures were simply not good enough and it was important to understand that the country had many competitors for tourists.
“I don’t believe that the Tourism Department is as aggressive as it should be in trying to regain our pre-Covid-19 tourism figures,” said De Freitas.
He said the reply didn’t talk about things like red tape, which he said was one of the issues he had phone calls and emails about from tourists and tour operators.
Despite this, however, Statistics SA’s (Stats SA) latest data show that overseas tourist arrivals

continued to recover in April, but remained below pre-pandemic levels.
In April, 1.6 million travellers, including arrivals, departures, and those in transit, passed through South Africa`s ports of entry and exit.
Of these, more than 600 000 were South African residents and a million were foreign travellers.
Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke gave the breakdown of the tourists by region as: 119 518 from overseas; 304 123 from the SADC countries; and 6 964 from other African countries.
He said the country of residence of 771 tourists was classified as unspecified.
Meanwhile, quoting Wesgro’s May 2022 report, Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger said the May 2022 statistics confirmed that the recovery of tourism in the Western Cape was continuing.
Wenger said this was good news for the Western Cape’s tourism and hospitality sector, which employs tens of thousands of residents across the province.
“Considering that this period covers the start of our historically low winter tourism season, these statistics certainly give hope to a sector that has been among the hardest hit during the pandemic,” said Wenger.
She said now that the remaining restrictions had been lifted, she was hopeful that these upward trends would continue.
“We do, however, need to acknowledge the possible impact of the rising price of petrol and the grounding of the Comair fleet,” she said.
www.samigration.com V.4318

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.

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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.

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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.

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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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