www.thesouthafrican.com
21 - 28 May 2013
Issue 515
A VISA FOR UK VISITORS TO SA? SA Home Affairs minister hints that it may be time to make visas compulsory for all tourists from the UK, following stalled talks on visa-free travel to Britain
by STAFF REPORTER
DIPLOMATIC relations between South Africa and Britain appear to be slightly strained at the moment. Following the announcement that Britain would withdraw foreign aid to South Africa, along with ‘no movement’ on South Africa’s visa status, Home Affairs minister Naledi Pandor has hinted that South Africa may hit back by making visas compulsory for UK visitors. The South African government said in February that it was sufficiently confident of the security of its passport system that it has approached British authorities to negotiate the possible reinstatement of South Africa’s visa-free status. The UK revoked this status in 2008 after rampant corruption in the Department of Home Affairs saw officials issue passports to foreign criminals, increasing the risk of suspected terrorists entering the UK via South Africa. According to City Press, Pandor told MPs in Parliament, “We had been given a promise that following the (London) Olympics, there would be a focus on whether this visa requirement can be lifted. There hasn’t been any movement and I think the time has come for us to consider reciprocity,” she said. For the last five years thousands of South Africans have had to pay for costly visas to come on business trips, holidays or to
UK Immigration • UK Visas • Permits • EEA visas • Residency • Citizenship • Appeals • Sponsorship Licences South African Immigration
visit family here. Diplomatic and official passport holders also need visas. It costs about R1 180 for a shortterm visitor’s visa. The Department of Home Affairs has taken “drastic steps” over the last five years to root out corruption and redesign the security features of passports, Home Affairs director-general Mkuseli Apleni said. “We now have one to the world’s safest passports that cannot be forged. The process of issuing passports is more credible and has stringent checks and balances to ensure applicants are genuinely South African,” Apleni said. He said South Africa had followed best international practice to monitor travellers’ movements at all its entry and exit points. At OR Tambo International Airport the fingerprints of every traveller using a South African passport are checked against the national population register to ensure that the passport holder is a South African citizen. If South Africa decides to implement a ‘tit-for-tat’ visa regime, UK visitors – including government officials and diplomats – would have to apply for visas. This would be likely to affect the number of tourist arrivals from one of South Africa’s biggest markets, with more than 438,000 visitors last year - a 4.2% increase from the previous year. continued on page 2
INSIDE:
p3 | Prof Cyril Karabus finally welcomed back to SA after release from UAE
p3 | Annie Lennox to perform at Desmond Tutu’s Templeton Prize ceremony p9 | SA employers nervous as summer ‘strike season’ looms for an embattled mining industry
KNOW YOUR DA, SAYS LINDIWE: Ahead of South Africa’s 2014 elections, Lindiwe Mazibuko, Democratic Alliance Parliamentary Leader, will give a number of addresses in London this week as part of the DA’s effort to conscientise voters to its anti-apartheid credentials. More on page 2.
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