A new global study highlighting that Cape Town is one of the best cities in the world for remote workers, proves the city’s case for the urgent need for a remote work visa, according to high-ranking officials.
It is the second time the Mother City has been recognised in the same category, having been mentioned in Big 7 Travel’s ’50 Best Cities for Remote Working‘ for 2021 in January.
“This once again proves that we are a top-class, affordable destination for digital nomads, and bolsters our call for a remote work visa,” said Mayoral Committee member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management for the City of Cape Town (CoCT), James Vos.
Both the CoCT and the Western Cape government have been appealing to national government to fast-track the introduction of a remote working visa.
Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier, has submitted letters to the Minister of Tourism, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, and Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, requesting national government to urgently introduce this to allow international visitors to stay longer and work remotely while travelling in South Africa.
“The Western Cape has everything it takes to be the best remote working location in the world if we remove the red tape and roll out the red carpet for digital nomad tourists,” said Maynier.
According to Vos, digital nomads typically stay longer than 90 days in a destination. “As such, I am making submissions to national government to make provisions in the Immigration Act to allow for a remote work visa for a period longer than three months.”
The CoCT also recently hosted a Remote Work Webinar, with Vos noting that the remote work model wasn’t just a trend. “It’s here to stay. Let’s fully capitalise on what we as a city can offer these 21st century workers,” he said.
“By encouraging more of them to choose Cape Town, we will be boosting the economy as they will spend more time and money in our city. They will also amplify the message among their friends, family, and networks about Cape Town being a prime destination for work and play.”
Cape Town ranks high
Nestpick, an online platform for worldwide on-demand housing, released a data study, the Work-From-Anywhere Index, which assesses 75 cities around the world on factors related to working remotely.
Some of the 16 factors are costs and infrastructure, taxes, freedoms, safety, and liveability.
The study revealed the best cities to live and work remotely from, some of which already have specialist visas for remote workers, ranking them by a final score.
Cape Town ranks 16th on the list, in between Lisbon, Portugal, and Edinburgh, United Kingdom. The Mother City was awarded a total score of 80.93%. The city’s best score was in the category of gender equality, for which Nestpick awarded the Mother City 96.4%.
“The last year has really proved to many companies that remote working is not only a possibility, but actually something that can be beneficial to everyone involved. The technology has been available for a while now, but it’s taken seeing it in practice for the idea to really take hold,” commented Omer Kucukdere, Founder and CEO of Nestpick.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A digital nomad is someone who works remotely and leads a nomadic lifestyle, working from foreign countries, coffee shops, etc., and often combining work and leisure into ‘workcations’.
