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On behalf of the Department of Tourism and the entire tourism sector, Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille wishes to congratulate and thank the Department of Home Affairs for the significant progress made on the visa regime in recent months.
“We have made great strides in the past year and a key success has been our work with Operation Vulindlela in the Presidency, the State Security Agency and the Department of Home Affairs on the visa regime, particularly with the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme which will significantly ease the visa process for travellers and tour operators from China and India as well as the Electronic Travel Authorisation and the Digital Nomad Visas,” Minister de Lille said.

The tourism sector is a vital engine for economic growth as we have witnessed a steady rebound over the past two years with close to 9million arrivals to South Africa in 2024, up by 5.1% compared to 2023.
“We have been working hard with the tourism sector in South Africa, China and India to resolve the visa obstacles and the recent work by the Department of Home Affairs is to be commended. The Department of Tourism will use the visa enablers – the Electronic Travel Authorisation, the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme and the Digital Nomad Visas to grow tourism in South Africa, targeting key source markets - India and China,” Minister de Lille said.

“These visa regime enhancements will lead to increased arrivals to South Africa which will in turn assist government to achieve the goals of the GNU to drive inclusive economic growth and create jobs. As the Tourism sector, we are appreciative of the efforts and commitment by Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber and his department for the impressive gains made on the visa regime front,” Minister de Lille added.
Today, 12 February 2025, the Department of Home Affairs will start implementation of phase one of the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme that will significantly improve the visa process for travellers and tour operators from India and China.

“These are two massive key source markets for South Africa that can contribute to our goal to increase arrivals exponentially. A seamless visa regime is a key to growing arrivals and we have been working well with Home Affairs in this regard and will continue to work with them to make further improvements,” Minister de Lille said.

On Monday 10 February 2025, Minister Schreiber ad Minister de Lille addressed the first group of 65 successful tour operators from South Africa, China and India who were accepted in the first phase of the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme.
These tour operators will be able to start making visa applications for individuals and groups as of today, 12 February 2025 on a fully digital system in a more seamless process.

“Over the past few months we have directly engaged the tourism sector in South Africa, China and India on the visa regime and the sector in all three countries have enthusiastically welcomed these improvements. We are truly excited about these visa regime improvements and we cannot wait to reap the rewards of this progress in the coming months with increased arrivals from China and India especially,” Minister de Lille concluded.

The United States issued a record number of temporary work visas to South Africans in the past fiscal year, highlighting the increasing role they play in the country's agricultural sector.
According to data from the US Department of State, South African workers received 15,159 H-2A visas in the fiscal year ending September 2023, marking a 19% increase from the previous year.

While South Africans are the second-largest recipients of these agricultural guest worker visas, they still fall far behind Mexican workers, who received 285,919 permits during the same period.
The demand for migrant workers on American farms has soared in recent years, with the US granting 310,767 temporary visas—more than triple the amount issued a decade ago.
This surge reflects a growing reliance on foreign labour, as American farms require over 850,000 crop workers, nearly half of whom are estimated to be undocumented.

However, South Africa's increased presence in the US labour market is now entangled in political controversy following an executive order issued by former President Donald Trump.
The order, signed on Friday (7 February), called for the resettlement of Afrikaners and their families in the US as refugees.
Trump's decision was based on claims—widely disputed—that South African authorities are seizing land from White farmers without compensation under newly enacted legislation.

The document further claimed that the act follows years of discriminatory policies, including employment and business regulations, as well as rhetoric that allegedly fuels violence against White farmers.
However, experts have pointed out that the law shares similarities with eminent domain provisions in the US, which allow the government to expropriate land under certain conditions.

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) has since taken legal action, requesting the High Court to nullify the legislation.
While some advocacy groups have argued that White farmers face targeted violence, South Africa's broader crime crisis cuts across racial lines.
The country suffers from high levels of violent crime, with many attributing the problem to extreme inequality.
Economic growth has remained sluggish at less than 1% annually over the past decade, while unemployment is among the highest globally.

Neil Diamond, president of the South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA, warned of a potential mass exodus of skilled agricultural professionals following Trump's executive order.
Within just 18 hours of the announcement, the Chamber reportedly received over 10,000 inquiries from South Africans seeking refugee status or relocation assistance.

Diamond stressed that the loss of experienced farmers could significantly impact South Africa's food security, disrupt its agricultural value chain, and worsen economic instability.
He also noted that around 11,000 temporary South African agricultural workers currently benefit from the US H-2A visa program, and many may now consider permanent relocation with their families.
Diamond urged both governments to engage in diplomatic discussions to address the situation and prevent unintended economic consequences.

"At this stage, we do not have a clear understanding of what led the US president to take this action," he said.
"However, we have always maintained that policy decisions should be based on facts rather than misinformation."
In response to the escalating tensions, President Cyril Ramaphosa is preparing to send a delegation to Washington in an effort to persuade Trump to reconsider his stance.
Business leaders are also set to engage with their US counterparts, particularly those connected to tech mogul Elon Musk, who has become increasingly influential in Washington.

High-level government discussions are already underway, with sources indicating that a strategy session is scheduled for tomorrow before the official delegation departs for the US.
Given the serious economic and diplomatic implications, efforts are being made on multiple fronts to navigate this unfolding situation.

•    Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille and Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber are collaborating to reform the country's visa system and boost tourist numbers.
•    De Lille praised Schreiber for his swift work to fix the visa regime and other simmering problems in the Department of Home Affairs.
•    In the last festive season, South Africa had more than nine million visitors.

Minister of Tourism Patricia de Lille has praised her home affairs counterpart, Leon Schreiber, for progress made on the country's visa regime.

In a statement, De Lille, who is also leader of the GOOD Party, thanked Schreiber, whose department has a direct impact on tourism numbers.

"We have made great strides in the past year and a key success has been our work with Operation Vulindlela in the Presidency, the State Security Agency and the Department of Home Affairs on the visa regime, particularly with the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme which will significantly ease the visa process for travellers and tour operators from China and India as well as the Electronic Travel Authorisation and the Digital Nomad Visas," De Lille said.
De Lille said the tourism sector is a vital engine for economic growth.

She said there has been a steady rebound over the past two years, with close to nine million arrivals to South Africa in 2024. This is a 5.1% increase compared to 2023.
"We have been working hard with the tourism sector in South Africa, China and India to resolve the visa obstacles, and the recent work by the Department of Home Affairs is to be commended.

"The Department of Tourism will use the visa enablers - the Electronic Travel Authorisation, the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme, and the Digital Nomad Visas to grow tourism in South Africa, targeting key source markets - India and China," De Lille said.

"These visa regime enhancements will lead to increased arrivals to South Africa, which will in turn assist government to achieve the goals of the GNU to drive inclusive economic growth and create jobs. As the tourism sector, we are appreciative of the efforts and commitment by Minister of Home Affairs Dr Leon Schreiber and his department for the impressive gains made on the visa regime front," she added.

The Department of Home Affairs will start implementation of phase one of the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme that will significantly improve the visa process for travellers and tour operators from India and China.
"These are two massive key source markets for South Africa that can contribute to our goal to increase arrivals exponentially. A seamless visa regime is a key to growing arrivals and we have been working well with Home Affairs in this regard and will continue to work with them to make further improvements," De Lille said.

Earlier this week, Schreiber and De Lille addressed the first group of 65 successful tour operators from South Africa, China and India.
These tour operators will be able to start making visa applications for individuals and groups as soon as this week on a fully digital system in a more seamless process.

"Over the past few months, we have directly engaged the tourism sector in South Africa, China and India on the visa regime and the sector in all three countries have enthusiastically welcomed these improvements.
"We are truly excited about these visa regime improvements and we cannot wait to reap the rewards of this progress in the coming months with increased arrivals from China and India especially," said De Lille

Cape Town’s problems with digital nomads are well documented – from claims of driving up rental costs to causing a shortage of accommodation, particularly in the centre of town. What is to be done? Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says one option is to put everyone on an equal footing by implementing suitable taxes on short-term rentals.
Hill-Lewis says a process is under way to change tariffs for those operating short-term rentals, adding that there needs to be an “equal playing field” in the accommodation sector.

As Daily Maverick has reported, digital nomads occupy short term-rentals along the Atlantic Seaboard, much to the ire of residents, who feel they are being priced out of accommodation in the city as owners rent out apartments and homes to digital nomads who spend weeks working remotely.

Advocacy project Inside Airbnb reported there were about 25,816 listed rentals on the short-term rental platform by 28 December 2024, largely concentrated along the Atlantic Seaboard, in the southern suburbs and along the city’s coast.
While these nomads often appear on social media taking in the city’s tourist attractions and entertainment venues, there is a downside: activists claim the housing crisis in the city is worsened by these visitors. Writing in Daily Maverick, Ndifuna Ukwazi’s Zacharia Mashele and Buhle Booi say this drives up rental prices, making it difficult for locals, particularly low- and middle-income households, to secure affordable housing.

In a wide-ranging interview with Daily Maverick this week, Hill-Lewis said he agreed with sentiments that short-term rentals need to be taxed “appropriately”.
“You can’t come into a very tourism-rich market and basically run a small hotel… if you’re running a permanent Airbnb, that’s what it is, but you’re not taxed like a hotel, you’re taxed like a private house,” he said.
The mayor said a process was under way to convert “permanent Airbnbs where people are not just renting out a room or renting out their granny flat” from residential to commercial tariffs.

“I think that’s only fair,” he said, adding: “There has to be an equal playing field.”
He explained that he could not tell developers of major hotel chains that they needed to pay business tariffs in the city because they run hotels while others who run operations like these on a much smaller scale do not.
Processes in the City’s revenue department were under way to change these tariffs for those for whom this is a main business.

“So, for me, that’s about an equal playing field, no questions asked there.”
Hill-Lewis is not the only government official to add to the discussion about short-term rentals and their impact.
The issue was raised in Parliament in October 2024. Senzo Nkala, the tourism department’s director of policy planning and strategy, told MPs on the tourism oversight committee that the department was looking into regulatory frameworks, including an approach to short-term rentals.

He said that when the department did consultations on the Tourism White Paper, for the development and promotion of tourism, there was an intention to support long-term rental markets and prevent large property owners from monopolising housing supply for short-term rental purposes, which can lead to rising rental costs and the displacement of long-term tenants.
According to the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, Nkala said that during consultations, estate agents had raised concerns about unregulated short-term rentals. They had complained that property owners bought a number of properties for short-term rental use without involving agents, leading to neighbourhood disruptions such as noise and nuisance complaints.
The department, Nkala said, intended to start extensive consultations with key stakeholders, focusing on how threshold-based rules could be implemented to balance market access with regulation and public interest.

In its impact report on Cape Town, short-term rental platform Airbnb said it had “long led calls for short-term rentals to be regulated”, and that regulation would help provide policy certainty for hosts and guests, and create a level playing field for all operators.
In September 2023, the department and Airbnb also signed a memorandum of understanding, which includes a national registration system and a national database for short-term rentals in the country to “provide transparency into the short-term rental market”.

“While taxing short-term rental owners like commercial properties may be a step towards regulating the market, it does not address the root issue: the unchecked prioritisation of short-term profits over the right to housing,” said Jonty Cogger, an attorney at Ndifuna Ukwazi.
He told Daily Maverick that without stronger protections for tenants, better rent controls and a commitment to well-located, affordable housing, “Cape Town will continue to cater to tourists and digital nomads at the expense of its own residents… the City must act urgently to ensure that housing serves people, not just profits.

No, the investment required for a South African business visa does not need to be made all at once. Applicants have the option to phase the investment over time, with certain rules, timelines, and documentation to follow.

1. Investment Requirement
Foreign nationals applying for a business visa must invest a minimum of R5 million (ZAR) into the business. This amount can include cash, equipment, or other capital, and must be documented and audited. The investment must contribute to the establishment, expansion, or operation of the business. In some cases, investments in critical sectors may qualify for exemptions or reduced amounts.

2. Upfront vs. Staggered Investment
Applicants can either:

Full Investment Upfront: This means depositing the full R5 million before applying for the visa, with proof of the deposit required.
Staggered Investment: The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) allows investment in stages, with a detailed business plan showing how the full investment will be made over 12-24 months. For example:
Year 1: Invest R2 million for business setup.
Year 2: Invest R3 million for expansion and employment.
3. Proof of Investment
Proof must be submitted to show financial capacity and commitment, including:

Bank Statements/Guarantees
Capital Equipment Valuations
Auditor’s Letter from a South African chartered accountant
Business Plan Documentation detailing how funds will be used.
4. Flexibility for Critical Sectors
Certain industries like IT, renewable energy, and agriculture may qualify for a reduced investment requirement. These sectors must demonstrate significant economic impact through a feasibility study.

5. Consequences of Non-Compliance
Failure to meet the investment requirement, whether upfront or phased, may lead to:

Visa Cancellation
Audits and Compliance Checks
Denial of Extension
Penalties
6. Employment Obligations
At least 60% of the workforce must be South African citizens or permanent residents. Failure to comply may affect visa renewal.

7. Summary
Investment Phasing: The R5 million investment can be phased, but a business plan is required.
Proof and Documentation: Submit proof of funds, financial documents, and progress reports.
Critical Sectors: Reduced investment may apply to industries with high economic impact.
Non-Compliance: Non-fulfillment can lead to visa issues or penalties.
Practical Tip: Consult with immigration experts to ensure compliance with South African visa requirements.

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