A “thoughtless directive” is how inbound industry association, SATSA, has described the Department of Home Affairs' latest instruction demanding visitors who have not received visa renewals by February 23 to immediately depart South Africa.

The DHA snuck in the directive during the festive season (21 December 2023), overruling the previous agreement allowing visitors an additional 90-day extension while awaiting visa renewals.

As revealed in a Daily Maverick article last week, these unsuspecting 'swallows' who arrived in October/November and applied to extend their stay now must leave by the end of February.

"This irrational decree shows complete disregard for the tourism industry and will be ruinous at a time when the country desperately needs visitors' foreign capital," says Oupa Pilane, SATSA Chairman. "South Africa grants short-term visas on arrival to tourists from many countries. But due to astounding levels of ineptitude and incompetence, Home Affairs regularly fails to process the simple visa extensions in a reasonable time."

Pilane highlighted that the much-needed 'swallows' (aka ‘Sun Chasers’) who visit for up to 180 days are a golden goose for South Africa’s economy and indeed its tourism sector, which is the third-highest GDP earner for the country and enjoys a deep and vast supply chain creating job opportunities.

He pointed out that these Sun Chasers were a lucrative market segment for the country, not only because of their lengthy stay, but also because of their contribution to the government’s coffers through their retail spend and associated VAT.

‘Critical sector being shackled’

"It is shameful that Home Affairs cannot execute its simple mandate in issuing visas on time, and then thinks nothing of imposing arbitrary edicts to eject visitors who planned six-month stays and, in many cases, own property here," Pilane continued. "Tourism is trumpeted as a priority by government, yet this renegade department, and others, appear to be doing their utmost to shackle this critical sector, either with deliberate intent or through staggering ineptitude. It is disgraceful to penalise visitors for their inexcusable dysfunction."

Citing the Department of Transport as another example, Pilane added that the department had failed to address the severe dysfunction at the NPTR and the long delays in issuing operating licences to tourist transport operators, despite numerous offers of assistance and constructive attempts to engage with the department to broker solutions.

“It’s another example of the same malady,” said Pilane. “The severe delays and ongoing dysfunction at the Regulator is a disaster for our tourism fleet. Operators are hamstrung because they simply cannot obtain permits for their vehicles within a reasonable time. There are simple solutions on the table, but no willingness or urgency to implement them. We can do better, and we need to stop scoring own goals if we value our tourism industry.”