South Africa: SA Working On Scrapping Visa for All African Citizens

Source: News24Wire (Cape Town), 15/05/2017

South Africa is working towards allowing all African citizens to enter
the country without visas but at first trusted travellers like
diplomats officials academics business people and students will be the
only ones to benefit.


The Department of Home Affairs outlines the steps that will be taken
towards scrapping visa requirements in its latest White Paper on
International Migration which was adopted by cabinet six weeks ago but
not made public yet.


The African Unions Agenda 2063 championed by former AU Commission
chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma calls for the scrapping of visa
requirements for all African citizens travelling on the continent by
2018 based on the views of the African Rennaissance.


The African passport was launched with great ceremony by Dlamini Zuma
and Rwandan President Paul Kagame at last years AU summit in
Kigali.


According to the White Paper South Africa fully supports the vision of
an Africa where its citizens can move more freely across national
borders where intra Africa trade is encouraged and there is greater
integration and development of the African continent.


It said the current status was untenable. For instance on average
Africans need visas to travel to 55% of other African countries. They
can get visas on arrival in only 25% of other countries. Finally they
do not need a visa to travel to just 20% of other countries on the
continent.


Security based approach
But the White Paper which moves South Africas approach to immigration
from a purely administrative one to a security based approach warns
that the scrapping of visas needs to happen with caution.


South Africas risk based approach advocates for an incremental removal
of migration formalities for frequent and trusted travellers including
diplomats officials academics business persons students etc.


The policy is envisaged as follows: African citizens can enter South
Africa visa-free where there are reciprocal agreements.


Visas will only be needed when there are risks of foreign nationals
overstaying security risks like organized crime terrorism and
political instability civil registration risks i.e. fraud by foreign
governments in issuing documents or an unable or unwillingness to
identify their nationals when requested and for countries with a high
number of nationals who abuse the asylum system.


One of the countries identified elsewhere in the document as doing
such is Zimbabwe.


Key elements of the visa free regime would be visa free entry for
visits up to 90 days recognition of visas for third parties for
example regional visas agreed standards on immigration and border
management agreed standards on civil registration and sophisticated
real time risk management information and intelligence sharing.


Where visas are required South Africa should make it as easy as
possible for bona fide travellers to enter South Africa by
standardizing and expanding the use of long term multiple entry visas
for frequent travellers business people and academics according to the
White Paper.


A list will be developed of countries whose visa adjudication systems
are trusted and recognized by South Africa and technology will be used
to establish trusted traveller schemes.


Free movement of African citizens
At regional level South Africa should continue to advocate for a free
movement of African citizens the paper states.


It also says however that there has been a large influx of semi
skilled an unskilled economic migrants who could not get visas and
permits through the mainstream immigration regime.


These had some negative consequences such as the asylum seeker
management system being abused and overwhelmed by economic migrants
and then these migrants and by extension also South African workers
being abused by some unscrupulous South African employers.