The City of Cape Town has slammed the Department of Home Affairs for creating confusion and continuing to score “infuriating” own goals in launching remote work visas in the country.

Mayoral committee member for economic growth, James Vos, said that the last month has seen the department shoot itself in the foot with the premature gazetting and subsequent withdrawal of regulations that would create this category of visa.

“On 28 March, the DHA published the amended immigration regulations. This, however, was a day before the closing date of the public comment period. And then, on 12 April, the minister issued a notice withdrawing the 28 March amendments,” Vos said.

Among other things, the regulations replaced the highly-contested critical skills list with a new points-based system and introduced the remote work visa class. At the time of the withdrawal, the minister said that the regulations would be revised within a week, but has since fallen silent.

“South Africa’s visa system is already infamously a mess and this latest bungle only serves as a reminder of the murk. The hundreds of thousands of employees working in the tourism industry, not to mention those in need of jobs, can ill afford yet more chaos caused by the department.”

Vos said that the tourism industry and businesses need urgent clarity on the status of the remote-worker visas. The delays could cost the country millions of rands of additional tourist spend.

“Businesses in countless more industries are equally frustrated as the skilled staff they need are unable to get into the country due to unprocessed visas,” he said.

The MEC said that businesses in industries like business process outsourcing have complained about the current visa system hindering expansion and skills transfer, while others have flagged challenges acquiring visas for delegates, forcing the relocation of conferences and events to other parts of Africa.

Vos urged the department to provide a detailed plan to address the crisis of the visa system and adhere to that plan.

Cape Town has been a major proponent of the remote-work visa, saying that it is in a prime position to benefit economically.

“A fully functioning visa system would be a boon to our country’s economy, driving investments and jobs for millions of desperate South Africans. I urge President Cyril Ramaphosa to exert pressure on the department to get this done,” he said.

The City of Cape Town has slammed the Department of Home Affairs for creating confusion and continuing to score “infuriating” own goals in launching remote work visas in the country.

Mayoral committee member for economic growth, James Vos, said that the last month has seen the department shoot itself in the foot with the premature gazetting and subsequent withdrawal of regulations that would create this category of visa.

“On 28 March, the DHA published the amended immigration regulations. This, however, was a day before the closing date of the public comment period. And then, on 12 April, the minister issued a notice withdrawing the 28 March amendments,” Vos said.

Among other things, the regulations replaced the highly-contested critical skills list with a new points-based system and introduced the remote work visa class. At the time of the withdrawal, the minister said that the regulations would be revised within a week, but has since fallen silent.

“South Africa’s visa system is already infamously a mess and this latest bungle only serves as a reminder of the murk. The hundreds of thousands of employees working in the tourism industry, not to mention those in need of jobs, can ill afford yet more chaos caused by the department.”

Vos said that the tourism industry and businesses need urgent clarity on the status of the remote-worker visas. The delays could cost the country millions of rands of additional tourist spend.

“Businesses in countless more industries are equally frustrated as the skilled staff they need are unable to get into the country due to unprocessed visas,” he said.

The MEC said that businesses in industries like business process outsourcing have complained about the current visa system hindering expansion and skills transfer, while others have flagged challenges acquiring visas for delegates, forcing the relocation of conferences and events to other parts of Africa.

Vos urged the department to provide a detailed plan to address the crisis of the visa system and adhere to that plan.

Cape Town has been a major proponent of the remote-work visa, saying that it is in a prime position to benefit economically.

“A fully functioning visa system would be a boon to our country’s economy, driving investments and jobs for millions of desperate South Africans. I urge President Cyril Ramaphosa to exert pressure on the department to get this done,” he said.

 The Henley Passport Power Index recently showed the significant limitations African citizens face for international travel and economic mobility because of their passports. These limitiations include lengthy visa applications, possible rejections, and long passport control queues. Only Mauritius and Seychelles passports allow holders to access over 50% of global GDP without needing to obtain a visa. This is despite Africa being home to some of the most visa-open nations when welcoming visitors from abroad Henley & Partners’ latest Africa Wealth Report has highlighted how this ‘exclusion’ is denying Africans from international business opportunities. “Your passport serves as a determinant of financial freedom, impacting individuals’ abilities to explore international business ventures, network efficiently, or engage in multi-national trade opportunities,” said Chidinma Okebalama, Senior Consultant at Henley & Partners Nigeria.” “Consequently, African entrepreneurs and investors are often left out of lucrative global markets, impeding their potential for economic growth and financial prosperity.” BIAS AGAINST AFRICAN COUNTRIES Meanwhile, Professor Mehari Taddele Maru at the School of Transnational Governance said African visa applicants face a disproportionately higher rejection rate compared to other regions, particularly for Schengen visas. Commenting on the 2024 Africa Wealth Report, he said: “Africa tops the list of rejections with one in three of all processed applications being turned down, even though it had the lowest number of visa applications per capita.” “Despite justifications based on security or economic concerns, the European visa system clearly demonstrates apparent bias against African applicants.” Seven of the top 10 countries with the highest rate of visa rejections were African nations. Image: Henley & Partners/ Africa Wealth Report Maru also noted that access to Schengen visas is closely tied to the economic and passport power of the applicant’s country of origin. “Many African countries have low ranking gross national income per capita, and also rank low on the Henley Passport Index,” he added. “A lower ranking correlates with a high level of rejection for Schengen visa applicants.”



Capitec and TymeBank customers can temporarily use a low-cost bank account with another major bank to renew their passports or get a Smart ID card from a bank branch.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and major banks first rolled out this option via the eHomeAffairs portal and select bank branches in 2016.

The facility has expanded to about 30 locations, including branches from Absa, Discovery Bank, FNB, Investec, Nedbank, and Standard Bank.

MyBroadband recently tested the service at two FNB branches.

For one tester, the entire passport renewal process at the branch — including biometric checks and document collection — took around 15 minutes. The second tester spent about an hour at another branch.

Overall, they found it was a massive improvement over the horrorshow that many experience at regular DHA offices, which offer a myriad of other services.

To use eHomeAffairs, customers must have a bank account that supports accepting payment requests from the portal.

They must also visit a branch of the same bank for biometric verification, which includes scanning their fingerprints and taking a photo.

Capitec and TymeBank are the only major banks with no eHomeAffairs support.

However, there are several low-fee bank accounts from Absa, Discovery Bank, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank that can be opened for this purpose.

With monthly fees starting from around R5.00 for regular customers, this could be an option if you would rather not dare to visit a regular Home Affairs office.

This option is also available to customers with one of the other major banks that might not have an eHomeAffairs-enabled branch in their province.

For example, the only branch available to Discovery Bank customers is at its head office in Sandton.

Nedbank is also the only bank with an eHomeAffairs branch in Mpumalanga, while FNB has the only branch in Limpopo.

The table below summarises the bank branches that support Smart ID and passport renewal services and what low-cost bank account you can use to access the service at those branches.

Regulation 30(2j of the Regulations deals with the authorisation for an illegal foreigner to remain in the Republic pending an application for status. The procedure for issuance for the authorisation (on DHA-1759) — Form 20) should be as follows:

When an illegal foreigner whose visa has expired and could not apply in time as provided for in Ihe Regulations for extension or renewal of his or her visa at the Visa Facilitation Service Centre, due to circumstances beyond his or her control, he or she should be referred to the Inspectorate (at any Home Affairs Office) to determine whether or not good cause exists as to why he or she could not apply on time.

On receipt of the written motivation for good cause Ihe immigration offices will interview the illegal foreigner and obtain Ifie necessary documentary/ proof collaborating good cause .The immigration Office must issue illegal foreigner with a notice to report (|DHA 721 — Form 23) to enable the immigration officer to confirm the authenticity of the supporting documents submitted for good cause.

Once the investigation has been concluded, a report must be prepared by the immigration officer and sent to the Office Head who should then forward the report to the District Manager Operations/ Director: immigration Services lo indicate if he or she supports the recommendation. Finally, the report with the recommendations of the District Manager Operations / Director: Immigration Services must be transmitted to the Provincial Manager or, if the matter is at Head Office, to the Chief Director: Inspectorate, for a decision and signing Form DHA-1759 (Form 20), The Provincial Managers are delegated with the powers to authorise the illegal foreigner lo remain in the Republic pending his or her application for status and to issue DHA-1759 (Form 20).

When he Immigration officer receives a positive decision he/she will inform the illegal foreigner of the decision and hand over to the illegal foreigner the DHA 1759 (Form 20) and advise the illegal foreigner to approach the Visa Facilitation Service Centre to apply for the relevant visa.

Where Ihe Provincial Manager did not approve the application for authorisaton to remain in be Republic, the immigration officer must follow the prosecution or deportation processes for dealing with an illegal foreigner.