South Africa’s remote working visa regulations will be effective within the next 30 days, said Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber at the RMB Morgan Stanley Investor Conference this week.

He noted that, as an economic enabler, the Department of Home Affairs has potential to kickstart economic growth through wholesale digital transformation.

“In total, it is in the domain of Home Affairs that we have the potential to triple or even quadruple this country’s annual economic output.”

According to Schreiber, boosting tourism arrivals by 10% could add another 0.6% to annual GDP growth.

“After working at breakneck speed over the past few months alongside the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and Operation Vulindlela in the Presidency, the regulations for a new points-based work visa, as well as the remote working visa, arrived on my desk this morning.

“These regulations will bring the remote working visa to life after we were able to iron out the tax implications of this new system,” said Schreiber.

The remote working visa will allow a person who is employed and paid in another country to move to sunny South Africa and spend their dollars, yen, euros, pounds or renminbi here, he pointed out.

Registration with SARS will only be required if the remote worker spends more than six months of the year in South Africa.

‘One of the best deals’

“Our new remote working visa must be one of the best deals I’ve ever come across. South Africa carries none of the cost of employing these nomads yet we reap all of the benefits,” Schreiber elaborated.

“They will spend their foreign currency at South African supermarkets and restaurants – eating South African food grown by South African farmers. They will buy cars and clothes from South African businesses and pay to visit South African tourist attractions.

“And, yes, they will spend their money in South African sports stadiums – watching the South African rugby team beat everyone else.”

In return, remote workers (aka “digital nomads”) can “live in the most beautiful country on Earth for half of the year without any mindless red tape or burdensome tax requirements,” he added.

“My message to remote workers all around the world is simple: there is just no place like South Africa. And, with our new user-friendly remote working visa, there has never been a better time to come and spend your hard-earned salary in a beautiful country whose best days are yet to come.”

Regulatory reforms

Schreiber said the combination of regulatory reforms underway within his department (including the remote working visa and the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme) will, within the next year, take South Africa much closer to the additional 11 000 skilled workers and the 10% increase in tourism the country needs to quadruple economic growth.

“But exciting as these policy changes are, they are only half of the equation. The forward-thinking regulations we are now implementing will mean little without far more effective administration.”

He admitted that Home Affairs struggles with administration and has an enormous amount of work to do to fulfil its potential as an economic enabler.

“The inefficiency and corruption that has maligned this department can all be traced back to the fact that it still has manual and paper-based processes.

“The only way to turn Home Affairs into a department that supercharges economic growth, delivers dignified civic services and secures national security is by urgently embracing automation and digital transformation.”

Visa adjudication process

He said the entire visa adjudication process must be digitised from beginning to end.

“I want anyone who wants to come to South Africa – as a tourist, skilled worker or investor – to be able to apply online. The application must be adjudicated by an automated risk engine built on the latest machine learning technology.

“If an application is legitimate, the outcome must be issued immediately in digital form, including the digital wallet on a smartphone. This must all happen without any space for human intervention or discretion to eliminate space for fraudsters.”

Schreiber said this vision for digital transformation can reposition Home Affairs as the most powerful economic enabler in the country.