Question NW1882 to the Minister of Home Affairs
07 June 2023 - NW1882
Sithole, Mr KP to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
What steps has his department taken to encourage and/or steer towards attaining the goal of harmonising the visa regime across the African continent to make it easier for tourists to move from one country to another which would ultimately encourage and boost tourism not only in the Republic, but also in the Southern African Development Community region?
Reply:
We currently have visa waiver agreements with 35 countries in the African continent including 16 SADC countries. The eVisa system has been rolled to 17 countries within Africa. They are Algeria, Comoros, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Egypt, Cameroon, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. This implementation is encouraging and supporting the movement in and out of SA and also boost tourism.
Further, South Africa is participating in the pilot for the SADC UNIVISA project. UNIVISA Legal Experts will be meeting from 8 – 9 June 2023 and the Department of Home Affairs will also be participating to consider the feasibility, modalities of this initiative.
The above is an indication of the department’s support and commitment towards attaining the goal of harmonising the visa regime across the African continent to make it easier for tourists to move from one country to another.
END