Malusi Gigaba: Digging in his heels and being macho over stupid visa laws

Source: Rand Daily Mail, 03/08/2015

It is clear that these are some of the most stupid regulations yet
introduced by our government in the past 21 years. There is no shame
in scrapping them and starting afresh
There is a lovely quotation that economics writers like to haul out
and throw about every so often. Some ascribe it to the hugely
influential economist John Maynard Keynes. Others say the line was
first uttered by the economics Nobel prize-winner Paul Samuelson.
Others claim say it was Winston Churchill, a man famous for his rapier
wit, who said it. The jury is still out.
Even the quotation itself changes. Some say Keynes stated: "When
events change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
Other versions of the quote range from "When the facts change, I
change my mind. What do you do, sir?" to "When someone persuades me
that I am wrong, I change my mind. What do you do?"
Things have changed a lot since Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba
walked into his new office last May. President Jacob Zuma had
announced Gigaba`s move from Public Enterprises to his new portfolio
on May 25. Just a few days after he walked into his office the
controversial new visa regulations — placing new and onerous
obligations on visitors to these shores — were announced.
On June 5 2015, with just ten 10 days in office, Gigaba was asked by a
reporter whether he didn`t think the new visa regulations "will have a
negative effect on companies".
Gigaba replied: "It will not have a negative effect and that is
precisely why we are introducing the visa facilitation centres."
Gigaba was new in office. He can be forgiven for defending the
policies he found being implemented by his predecessor and Home
Affairs officials. One does not, after all, arrive in office and
assume that one`s predecessor was all rubbish. One listens, one
learns, then one acts if necessary.
Gigaba was adamant on that day that the visa regulations were
necessary for security reasons. He had started the press conference by
saying: "It is equally important for us to explain, foremost, that the
Department of Home Affairs is a security department that delivers
services to the citizenry. In this regard, the security of our country
is paramount and central to all our endeavours in pursuit of our key
objective of together moving South Africa forward."
What if, since those first few days of Zuma`s second administration,
things have changed? What if the information used to implement these
new regulations has changed? Does Gigaba have the humility, the
political nous, the honesty, the self-reflection needed to acknowledge
that his department was wrong — and to change? Isn`t that what a wise
leader would do?
There is no shame in acknowledging that one has been wrong. Indeed,
for many of us who have seen stubborn leaders refuse to face the
truth, the sight of a leader acknowledging his or her one`s own human
frailty — embodied in the fact that we all get it wrong sometimes — is
a huge boon. Only a strong, confident, empathetic and authentic leader
admits to being wrong. It is a sign of strength, not weakness.
The figures on which Gigaba`s department decided to implement the
current visa regulations were wrong. This newspaper reported two weeks
ago that the "figure of 30 000 children being trafficked in or through
South Africa annually to justify the draconian new visa regulations"
has no basis in fact. The truth, it turns out, is that only 23 cases
of child-trafficking have been uncovered in the past three years in SA.
The ministry is correct to say that "every single child trafficked is
one too many". How these new visa regulations actually ensure that
this one child is not trafficked does not seem like an issue that the
ministry wants to pursue at all. The truth is that there isn`t a shred
of evidence that these new regulations stop child trafficking.
Instead, tourism is suffering. Accounting firm Grant Thornton says
South Africa has lost about R1.6-billion in direct spending from
overseas tourists — the worst decline in more than two decades. Grant
Thornton advisory services director Lee-Anne Bac said the country had
shown a loss of 1 600 tourists — or four jumbo jets — per a day,
reported The Times.
She said: "The 6% decline recorded in foreign tourist arrivals equates
to a loss of 150 000 tourists when compared to the same period
recorded last year. We have never seen such dire levels of decline in
the last 21 years of our tourism history."
Gigaba would do well to listen to his comrade, ANC secretary-general
Gwede Mantashe, who told the Sunday Times: "There is a lot about the
[immigration] act that is good. But when aspects of it hurt other
areas of government [such as tourism], then standing by and doing
nothing is not an option."
The facts have changed. It is now patently clear that these were some
of the most stupid regulations yet introduced by our government in the
past 21 years. There is no shame in scrapping them and starting
afresh. A real leader would know this, instead of digging in his one`s
heels and being macho about it.