The Canadian government has announced visa-free travel for visitors from 13 different countries across Asia, Africa, Central and South America.

In a statement, Sean Fraser, the Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said the visa-free travel is extended to Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts-Nevis, Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Morocco, Seychelles, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand and the Philippines.

While North Africa’s Morocco and East Africa’s Seychelles joined the list, Ghana, Nigeria the most populous African nation didn’t make the cut.

It said “An expansion of the electronic travel authorization better known as the eTA programs makes it easier for “known travelers” from those countries to come here for fun and business.”

It added that the expansion not only enhances convenience for travellers, it will also increase travel, tourism, and economic benefits, as well as strengthen global bonds with these 13 countries.

“The known travellers from these countries can save a lot of money as a result of the visa exemptions,” the statement read.

A visitor visa currently costs $100 per person and $500 for a family of five or more, but an eTA only costs seven dollars per person and is valid for as long as five years.

According to the government, introducing visa-free air travel will make it faster, easier, and more affordable for thousands of travellers to visit Canada for up to six months for either business or leisure.

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has extended the Zimbabwean Exemption Permits (ZEP) for another six months.

According to Motsoaledi, the validity of the ZEP will be extended from 30 June to 31 December 2023.

The extension comes after the department had `approved thousands of waiver applications of the affected Zimbabwean nationals` and was `considering and approving waiver applications daily`.

`This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of visa and waiver applications. The Departmental Advisory Committee (DAC) led by Dr Cassius Lubisi is now dealing with the increased number of visa applications,` Motsoaledi said.

The department, said Motsoaledi, has been receiving between 1 000 and 1 500 visa and waiver applications daily, and more officials have been deployed to assist in processing the applications.

The extension period will now end on 31 December 2023.

Under the extension, no holder of a valid ZEP may be arrested, ordered to depart the country or be detained for deportation for any reason related to them not having a valid exemption certificate.

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The holder of a ZEP will be allowed to enter and exit South Africa, provided they comply with all entry or exit requirements. 

ZEP holders would not be required to present an exemption permit or authorisation letter to remain in the country during the extension period, Motsoaledi said.

During the economic and political strife in Zimbabwe in 2008 and 2009, many of the country`s citizens fled to South Africa.

At the time, the South African government created a blanket exemption so that Zimbabweans could get permits to live and work legally.

The permits were effectively extended by creating another permit over the years, which has since become known as the ZEP. More than 178 000 ZEP holders have been in South Africa for over a decade.

In December 2021, Motsoaledi announced that the ZEP would not be renewed.

The special permits were due to expire in December 2022, but an initial six-month extension was granted to allow people to apply for other available visas.

Motsoaledi is expected to request that International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor issue a note verbale (a diplomatic communication from one government to another) to the Zimbabwean ambassador informing him of the extension

South Africa faces a growing emigration problem, with large numbers of highly skilled young people potentially set to leave the country. Meanwhile, those who choose to remain are also increasingly looking to virtual emigration adding to the stresses local businesses already face when seeking critical skills.

Speaking at a roundtable on South Africa’s brain drain, Simonetta Guiricich from payroll services group Payroll said South Africa faces a mass exodus of talent over the coming years.

This comes as the country has already lost close to a million people to countries like the UK, Australia, the USA, New Zealand and Canada.

South Africa does not track emigrants. However, a recent report from the UN showed that 914,901 South Africans were living abroad in 2020, a significant jump from the 786,554 recorded in 2015.

The number of people who left South Africa between 2015 and 2020 over 128,000 people was roughly three times higher than the 43,000 people who emigrated between 2010 and 2015.

The United Kingdom has the largest South African diaspora, with nearly 250,000 people listing South Africa as their country of birth, followed by Australia, the USA and New Zealand.

However, the biggest concern among business leaders right now is that young, skilled people are the ones packing their bags to go.

“Of particular concern for SA is the steady and increasing number of departures by young, highly skilled individuals,” Guiricich said. “Projections indicate that the country could lose up to half of its university graduates (to emigration) in the coming years.”

In addition, virtual emigration is posing a new challenge in South Africa, especially for the tech sector.

An increasing number of local developers and data scientists a scarce skill for the country are working remotely for global companies.

Solutions 

Despite the brain drain having a dire effect on South African businesses, the panellists provided several ways that companies can deal with emigration.

For instance, skills developmental employee training is crucial for an effective retention strategy, as it constantly upskills employees at all levels.

Companies will thus have a deeper talent pool with the necessary skills, minimising the disruptions caused by employees emigrating.

Moreover, Leonie Pentz from AIMS South Africa said that workplace flexibility would likely help attract and retain key skills at companies.

“In an era where workplace flexibility and fluid employment arrangements are top priorities for workers, companies that offer such flexibility stand a better chance of attracting and retaining rare talent on a global scale,” Pentz said.

“As responsible leaders, we need to ensure we’re looking after our staff from a mental health point of view, as well as a personal one. Today, people want to work for companies they feel they are aligned with personally.”

Vanessa Raath, a global talent sourcing trainer, added that enhanced support for key talent is crucial, with a particular focus on leadership engagement, support and appreciation.

“What companies need to realise is that it’s not always a monetary kind of reward. A smaller company can offer more, a 4-day working week, and more flexibility about working from home [or abroad],” Raath said.

“The companies that I’m working with that are thriving from a global perspective are the SMEs because they are meeting the needs of each individual and what they want.”

Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, announced on Friday that technical experts and former Eskom employees will be stationed at several power stations. At the same time, more generation capacity is being sourced to combat load shedding.

The ex-employees and other experts are supported by the Resource Mobilisation Fund (RMF) and will be stationed at various power stations nationwide from Monday (5 June 2023).

He said the team would go around the four power stations where the Energy Availability Factor (EAF) is low. According to the Minister, these include Matla, Kriel, Majuba, and Kendal power stations.

In addition, support will be given to open-cycle gas turbines, which poses a challenge regarding logistics and storage, and he is confident that the experts will provide solutions.

The RMF, launched in March this year, has already raised R100 million from businesses and philanthropies.

The funds will provide technical support and capacity to the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM) and employ the best minds in the game to end load shedding.

These experts, according to the Minister, include former Eskom employees, while others are industry experts. He said the professionals, who come highly recommended, will be allocated according to their specialities.

On the demand management support, he said he was confident that the programme would be oversubscribed.

“Remember, we did say that there’s huge potential that can be derived on the demand side essentially, clawing back the megawatts on the demand side without necessarily interrupting households’ ability to get their daily requirements.”

He added that Eskom has agreed to waive the requirement for security deposits to enable the wheeling of electricity to municipalities in good standing.

“So we think this will significantly improve generation because this was one major stumbling block.”

Plans to add more generation capacity 

The Minister also announced the two additional hydrogen projects the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Programme had been approved by the Eskom board and believes the project will reach a close by the end of June this year.

According to the Minister, the project will add an extra 274 megawatts (MW) to the grid.

In addition, he said preparations are underway to release an additional Bid Window.

“We’re looking at the additional Bid windows in June and July of 2023, including a Big Window, number seven, for wind and solar PV.”

He also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the decarbonisation agenda, and between these Bid Windows, he said Eskom is looking at 5,000 MW.

“We need to make sure the prospects of these projects are located geographically in the areas with access to grid capacity.” This alluded to the previous Bid Window, where about 3,000 MW remains unallocated because of poor or no access to create capacity.

“So we’ll make sure that there is no misstep there.” Additionally, he said a further Bid Window involves four battery storages of 1,200 MW and a gas project of 3,000 MW.

Meanwhile, the request for proposals (RFP) for the load shedding reduction programme of 750 MW and the cross-border procurement programme of 1,000 MW will procure an excess of 10,000 MW.

Regarding the winter plan, he noted the demand has increased, but the team at Eskom is working around the clock to lower the stages of power cuts.

He also emphasised that the power entity is far from the grid collapse

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) revealed the average time it has taken over the past two years for a decision on work visas to be made, but poor administration has meant applicants have waited far longer than what the department claims.

During a parliamentary Q&A, the department was asked whether it has established standards for the time period a decision on an application will be made for each visa type made available to foreign nationals for entrance into South Africa.

This query comes in light of concerns that long waiting times for visa approvals where having a direct economic contribution as far as employment and investment are concerned.

The relevant visas of concern include critical skill work visas, general work visas, and business visas.

In response, the department said the standards regarding turnaround times are as follows:

• Critical Skill work visa: turnaround time is four weeks;

• General work visa: turnaround time is eight weeks; and

• Business visa: turnaround time is eight weeks.

Considering these standards, the department further provided the average time it has taken over the past two years for a decision on each visa type to be made and communicated to the applicants.

According to the data in the department’s Annual Performance Plan �` the average number of weeks to finalise business and general work visas has been within the department’s standards �` taking between 5.3 and 6 weeks over 2021/22 and 4.3 and 4.7 weeks over 2022/23. 

However, critical skills work visas are of concern, taking much longer than the standard to be finalised. According to the department, these visas took, on average, between 4.6 and 5 weeks in 2021/22 and 6 and 6.5 weeks in 2022/23.

This delay in critical skills visas are holding back skilled immigrants from working in South Africa, said Busi Mavuso, the CEO of Businesses Leadership South Africa (BLSA).

Concerningly, the CEO noted that some people have been waiting much longer than the average turnaround times the department claim, with some waiting over six months to receive a work visa.

“The current visa regime makes it more difficult for businesses to expand their operations,” said Mavuso.

“Foreign companies cannot commit to major investments in South Africa when they cannot be confident that they can send their top people into the country,” she added.

Included in the department’s parliamentary response, it said the volume of applications received and accepted daily by Home Affairs currently exceeds the available human resource capacity.

However, the department has already been open and transparent by publicly announcing that the current backlog will be cleared by June 2024, while the DHA has outlined an implementation plan to ensure the recommendations published in the report under Operation Vulindlela are adopted.

Recommendations made under the report include, but are not limited to:

• Improving efficiencies

• Streamlining documentation and adjudication processes

• Modernising and automating the IT systems

• Increasing capacity at immigration branches