Home Affairs rebuffs EAC bid for business visa

The Department of Home Affairs is digging its heels in on a bid by the East African Community (EAC) for business visas to be issued on arrival in South Africa.

The department of trade and industry’s acting chief director of Africa multilateral relations, Phemelo Marishane, said in a briefing to Parliament’s trade and industry committee last week that Home Affairs believed it would not be possible to issue visas to African business people on arrival as “there was no legislation providing for this”.

Government has been calling for increased intra-Africa trade and the easy movement of business people is a vital component of this. The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) – which includes the EAC, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) – was launched in June this year.

According to Business Day, Home Affairs has however proposed extending the special Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) visa to the 26 TFTA states, which would be included in the tripartite agreement.

The Brics port of entry visa for business executives, which came into effect in December, allows for multiple entries to SA for the 10-year duration of the visa.