Question NW801 to the Minister of Home Affairs
07 October 2019 - NW801
Roos, Mr AC to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
With reference to the statement of the former Minister of Home Affairs wherein he announced that negotiations with certain countries (details furnished) were being finalised to conclude visa waiver agreements for ordinary passport holders, (a) what is the current status of visa waiver agreement negotiations in respect of certain countries (details furnished) and (b) by what date will the visa waiver agreements be finalised?
Reply:
(a) Visa waivers for ordinary passport holders were concluded with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, New Zealand, Cuba, Ghana, Sao Tome & Principe and Madagascar.
(b) Visa waivers with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and New Zealand were implemented on 15 August 2019 and a visa waiver with Madagascar was implemented on 27 August 2019. The Department is currently discussing implementation modalities with Cuba, Ghana and Sao Tome & Principe. The expected date of implementation is dependent on the implementation modalities.
In respect of the remaining countries, South Africa is engaging them on issues of security and immigration concerns, which include but not limited to introduction of Movement Control Systems; establishment, upgrade and strengthening of National Civil Registry Systems; introduction of Information Systems to ensure the integrity of travel documents and guard against fraudulent documents; as well as the introduction of Advanced Passenger Profiling Systems. Furthermore, the Department will issue long-term multiple entry visas for a period of three years to frequent travellers from these countries in order to ease movement of travellers into South Africa for tourism, business and academic purposes while continuing engagements with these countries.
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