Ramaphosa to urgently solve visa mess
A major overhaul of South Africa's visa regime is needed, and during his upcoming investment conference, President Cyril Ramaphosa should address the issue, according to Business Leadership SA (BLSA)."The president could use the opportunity to announce a credible intervention to fix the visa mess. That would go far to addressing one of the major sources of a lack of confidence in South Africa's investment case," the BLSA says in its latest newsletter.
Visa administration problems at the Department of Home Affairs are unacceptable and a serious impediment to the South African economy, according to BLSA.
The slow processing of applications for work visas and the extension of existing ones create an "impossible situation" for companies doing business or wanting to do business in SA. This is despite efforts by Operation Vulindlela in the Presidency to revise the scarce skills list, the BLSA said in its weekly newsletter on Monday.
"For company executives, the uncertainty created by the administrative chaos is a massive turnoff. If a company is considering the location of their regional headquarters, how does South Africa compare to competitors such as Dubai?" asks the BLSA.
It estimates that more than 50 000 foreigners working in SA face losing their status when their visas expire, purely because the Department of Home Affairs has been unable to process their applications in time.
It points out that SA has significant deficits in areas like technical skills. "We need to give international companies the confidence to plan on investments here without the fear that they will simply be unable to send their people because we cannot manage our bureaucracy," states the BLSA.
"Next week, the president will be hosting the fifth South Africa Investment Conference, which is aimed to attract foreign investment to the country. The president could use the opportunity to announce a credible intervention to fix the visa mess...Organised business is eager to help."-Fin24