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Nightmare at OR Tambo – Visa regulations used as weapon of mass destruction

Source: By Douglas Gibson - Biznews, 16/07/2015

Our family had experience of the new visa requirements recently and it
became clear the department of home affairs does not understand the
damage it is doing.
My wife`s cousin, Jenny Hargreaves and her 17 year old son, Simon,
travelled to Johannesburg from London after complying with the new
requirements of an unabridged birth certificate and the father`s
verified letter of consent to the minor travelling. The documents were
checked at Heathrow and in Paris and were all in order.
On arrival at OR Tambo, they were escorted to the immigration office
and told to sit in a waiting room. They were refused entry because of
missing documentation. Mrs Hargreaves asked to see the supervisor who
explained that he could not change his mind as he would put his job at
risk like other staff who had been dismissed for breaking the rules.
The missing document was a verified copy of the father`s passport.
Mrs Hargreaves and her son were understandably upset and she begged
the official to find a solution but they were advised that because
they had been offensive they were being sent back to London. I and
others became involved at this stage. Mr Hargreaves was telephoned in
London and he forwarded a copy of his passport before lunchtime. They
were taken under guard to the detention centre, checked in and given a
room with eight bunk beds. There were no windows and the door was kept
open with a bin. If it was closed it could only be opened from
outside. During the day and evening I made over forty telephone calls,
several to London, trying to get some sensible solution. DA MP Mr
Archie Figlan and his secretary went out of their way to assist. Mr de
Vos of home affairs was unfailingly polite and helpful. Early in the
afternoon I was told they would not be deported and this I conveyed to
them and to the grandmother in Benoni and Mr Hargreaves in London.
Hours later I was told they had still not been released because
someone had to pay the costs of the detention. I offered to travel to
the airport to pay the amount personally but they could not tell me
how much it would be. I had discussions with Mr Themba Nkoma,
Inspector and assistant director at the airport and Mr de Vos of home
affairs. I said Mrs Hargreaves had money on her and should just be
asked to pay. This was not a bribe; it was the charge by the private
company running the detention centre. We agreed the money would be
paid and they would be released after their documents were processed.
I phoned Mrs Hargreaves, her mother in Benoni and her husband in
London to tell them the good news. Later, I heard she was refused
permission to pay the money.
Mrs Hargreaves was told she was being denied entry and was being
deported. She phoned me and I started trying to raise the officials. I
left a message for Mr Thabo Nkoma, expressing my own indignation at
this treatment after he had told me everything was in order.
When he returned my call he told me he did not like the threatening
tone of my message – I had said I would make him famous by issuing a
statement to the media about this situation. He invited me to interact
with the deputy director, Jacky Mackay. I pointed out that while we
spoke the Hargreaveses were probably being deported.
At 18h50 they were indeed taken under escort to the plane. They were
about to sit when the chief purser called them and said they had been
granted permission to enter South Africa. Back at the detention centre
and told to pay R1,270 for a seven hour stay. This had to be paid in
cash. No receipt was issued but they were told one would be emailed in
the morning. After payment, they were released.
These law-abiding people, visiting South Africa for two weeks were
traumatised and abused instead of being welcomed as tourists who would
spend their pounds here and create jobs for our people.
Mr David Frost, CEO of the South African Tourism Services Association
(SATSA) said the new home affairs visa regulations were "absolutely
ludicrous." The response from home affairs was a classic that deserves
a prize for arrogance and cheek. Mr Mayihlome Tshwete, home affairs
spokesman, issued a statement quoted in Business Day saying that
business had entered talks with the department in bad faith. "Even
when we have stakeholder engagements, it`s to make sure people are
compliant and to engage about ways to improve administrative (sic). It
is not to question the importance of protecting children."
Everyone in the tourism industry, from Minister Derek Hanekom down
knows that significant harm is being done because of new regulations
requiring tourists to apply in person at South African embassies and
consulates for visas, not using agents, and to comply with onerous
requirements for birth certificates of minor children.
The horrendous drop in the number of tourists from India and China is
not surprising. China, that vast country, enjoys representation from
South Africa in only Beijing and Shanghai. Prospective tourists must
now travel to one of these two places to apply for a visa to visit us.
Other travel options have suddenly become more attractive.
Weeks ago Minister Gigaba was appointed to head an inter-ministerial
task team investigating the unintended consequences of the new
regulations. The task team has not even met yet. Worse still was the
recent statement by Deputy Minister Fatima Chohan that the regulations
were "water under the bridge. " We should all co-operate to make them
work. She is a very smart, competent person and while her loyalty to
her minister deserves recognition, she surely knows the new
regulations are wrecking our tourist potential and must be dumped
without delay.
* Douglas Gibson, a former Chief Whip of the Opposition and a former
ambassador to Thailand, is a writer, political analyst and public speaker
Most human beings are pleasant, law-abiding individuals whose sense of
Karma encourages us to treat others the way we would like to be
ourselves. But every now and then a dysfunctional being slips through.
And once they get a sliver of power, they become human wrecking balls
wreaking damage beyond comprehension. Protecting society from such
anomalies is a big reason why nations require leaders who reflect
before enacting rules and regulations. In the wrong hands, even the
best-intentioned law can become a weapon of mass destruction. Douglas
Gibson, a long serving Member of Parliament and SA`s erstwhile
Ambassador to Thailand shares the nightmare family members were
subjected to by Home Affairs officials. Despite the obvious plunge in
tourist numbers, the ANC seems unable to comprehend how its new Visa
regulations are killing jobs. Perhaps the narrative of this nightmare
at OR Tambo will strike the right chord. – Alec Hogg

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