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The Board of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) recently expressed significant concern regarding the potential deleterious impact of the new immigration regulations on South African business.

In considering the issue, SACCI members noted that, while some of the changes were well intentioned, they expressed concern that businesses ranging from SMEs to multinational corporations and residents would incur large administrative costs and lose valuable business opportunities due to the regulations. The regulations placed significant pressure on business in an already sensitive economic environment.

The principal areas of concern include the following:

• In order to renew a visa, foreign nationals are required to return to their country of origin as opposed to renewing the visa in South Africa as is the current practice. Several reports have been received of foreign investors in which either themselves or their foreign born employees have been advised that their work permits will not be renewed upon expiry. This also impacts on the work of foreign aid agencies, as most programs are at risk since the advisors will not be able to continue their aid and capacity building work in South Africa.
• Tourists travelling with children under the age of 18 are required to have an unabridged birth certificate in English in addition to a passport. This requirement makes travel to the country unnecessarily complex and costly in countries where English is not the official language as the birth certificate has to be translated, reportedly costing as much R1000 and taking more than 2 weeks to translate. This will have a significantly negative impact on visitor arrivals from emerging markets such as China and South America, which both represent high growth markets for domestic tourism. The new regulation stand in direct contrast to South Africa’s efforts to establish itself as a premier tourism destination. 

The Board also noted the likelihood of retaliatory action by other governments should these changes be affected.

SACCI will engage with the Director General of the Department of Home Affairs as a matter of urgency in order to apprise him of the unintended consequences of the regulations.  SACCI will also raise the issue as part of its broader policy discussion in a forthcoming bilateral engagement with the ANC leadership.