SA Migration International

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â€˜Teflon Ministerâ€™ Gigabaâ€™s rash visa rule was costly for SA

Source: The Citizen, 27/10/2018

Why was it necessary to introduce the potentially problematic
regulations in the first place, back in 2014?
If ever there was a â€œTeflon Ministerâ€ in our government â€` for whom the
most serious criticism or allegation slides away easier than water off
a duckâ€™s back â€` then the leading candidate must be Home Affairs
Minister Malusi Gigaba.
With a straight, and occasionally smiling, face, he yesterday
announced amendments to visa and immigration requirements which have
been blamed for seriously denting South Africaâ€™s reputation as an
international tourism destination.
He said: â€œThe department of home affairs is committed to managing
immigration in a way that advances our national development, security
and our international obligations.â€
Fair enough. But why was it necessary to introduce the potentially
problematic regulations in the first place, back in 2014? Then, the
government ruled that foreign tourists travelling to South Africa
would have to carry full, unabridged birth certificates for children
as well as documentary approval of their travel.
According to David Frost, chief executive of the Southern Africa
Tourism Services Association, the application of the rule in only the
first year saw 13 000 people being turned away from points of
embarkation. But, he added, â€œ the real cost is people considering
South Africa as a destination, coming across the requirements and then
simply going to alternative destinationsâ€.
At that time, Gigaba was one of the people closest to then-president
Jacob Zuma and refused to change the regulations, despite opposition
from some of his own colleagues in Cabinet.
We acknowledge the governmentâ€™s commitment to security and to clamping
down on trafficking of minors â€¦ but the biggest areas where these are
happening are across our borders, which are either not patrolled, or
at border posts where corruption helps bend regulations.
So, we wonder about the benefits of the whole exercise in the long run.
Ill thought-out restrictions like these should not be imposed in the
future.

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