By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Cabinet has welcomed the gazetting of South Africa’s new visa regime as a key step towards attracting international skills and investment.
Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber announced the gazetting of the reforms on Wednesday, 9 October. The gazetting has been described as another success under Operation Vulindlela.
The Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, held a media briefing on Thursday on the outcomes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
In July 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined the Government of National Unity’s collective mandate in this area through his call to “overhaul the visa regime to attract skills and investment and grow the tourism sector”.
Just three months later, Home Affairs has delivered on this mandate through a set of world class reforms.
“The gazetting of all required elements for the Remote Work Visitor Visa and the new Points-Based System for Work Visas amounts to the single most progressive and pro-jobs regulatory reform South Africa has seen in decades,” said Schreiber earlier this week.
He said the department’s meticulous attention to detail to ensure that these reforms are fit-for-purpose and market-friendly has resulted in two products that begin to reposition South Africa as a world-class destination for investment and tourism, in order to create thousands of new jobs for South Africans.
“Importantly, the new points-based system also introduces a transparent framework to adjudicate visas in order to tackle corruption,” he said.
Independent research commissioned by the Reserve Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute shows that growing the number of high-end skills as a share of the total South African population by just 0.02% can boost annual economic growth by up to 1.2%.
The same research showed that an enhanced visa regime can create seven new jobs for every additional skilled worker attracted into the economy.
Schreiber explained that the new points-based system also introduces a transparent framework to adjudicate visas in order to tackle corruption.
As an interim measure, while the department lays the foundation for digital transformation to shift exclusively to online application and adjudication, applicants for the Remote Work Visa, as well as for the Critical Skills Visa and General Work Visa under the new Points-Based System, can continue to submit applications through the relevant service providers and South African missions abroad.
Spaza Shops
Ntshavheni has warned South Africans to stop buying from unregistered spaza shops, especially if they don’t know where these informal businesses buy their stock.
She was responding to journalists’ questions about the spate of food poisining of children eating contaminated food believed to be sold in spaza shops and by street vendors.
“We must take a decision as society that we are not buying at the spaza shops when we are not sure where they are buying their products. We are not buying at spaza shops where spaza shops are not registered in their municipalities,” she said.
Ntshavheni, a former minister of small business development, said the department works with municipalities to make sure spaza shops are registered.
“During my tenure and during Covid-19 we made a directive that enjoined municipalities to register spaza shops and any other informal business for free if they could prove their citizenship.”
She said South Africans should demand to see the registration certificate when they go to a spaza shop.
Ntshavheni suggested South Africans who protested against the government’s crackdown on illegal spaza shops should also take the blame.
UNGA resolution on Israel’s occupation
Cabinet has welcomed the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) historic resolution that declared Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza unlawful, and mandating the complete withdrawal of Israeli settlers and soldiers.
“This resolution is not only significant for South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) but that developed countries such as Spain, Belgium and Japan joined most of the countries of the global South in supporting the resolution,” said Ntshavheni.
With the escalation of conflict in Sudan, Cabinet has called on all Sudanese to adhere to the guidelines of the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority on Development to end the conflict.
“South Africa stands ready to offer its expertise to assist parties, role players and other relevant stakeholders to collectively work towards finding lasting peace in the Sudan,” the Minister said.