The inability by South Africa’s consular offices to process visa applications from Indian nationals timeously is forcing operators to postpone and rebook travel arrangements, all while pleading with suppliers to keep the original rates in place and not charge cancelation fees.

The Times of India on Thursday reported that a family of five had to cancel flight bookings because visas, applied for four weeks prior, had not been issued on time.

When asked why visas were taking longer to process, Department of Home Affairs Spokesperson, Thabo Mokgola, said all visas that meet the requirements are issued within stipulated time. "Those that take longer to finalise are due to verification of information, outstanding documentation and other factors that impact on finalisation. In the latter instance, applicants are informed accordingly."

Both Collin Thaver, MD Southern Africa 360 Luxury Holidays and Johan Groenewald, MD of Royal African Discoveries have been affected by the delays.

Thaver says at present visas are taking anything up to 20 days, if not longer, to be issued. “In one instant we are having to postpone and re-postpone holiday arrangements for clients wanting to travel because they have not received their visas.” Groenewald says for the past five years, the Indian market has experienced issues with visas. He adds that while the Department of Home Affairs said it increased staff two years ago, it appears the staffing is still insufficient.

Rebooking to accommodate postponements eats into operators’ tight margins, says Thaver. “With the low margins we make from this market, these undue delays are not cost effective for us to endure administrative hiccups,” he says. “Yet again we are pleading with our suppliers to be flexible with us and not raise cancellation costs when we have to release bookings at the last minute or change travel dates.” He adds that payment delays based on late issuing of visas also puts operators at risk.

The Indian market has been a growth market for South Africa and because Indians travel during their summer, which is South Africa’s winter period, the market presents an opportunity to deal with seasonality, says Groenwald. He adds that both Zimbabwe and Zambia have introduced online visas for this market. He questions why South Africa cannot do the same, given that biometrics are submitted on arrival.