MZANZI ISSUE 16
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SA government’s moves to<br />
bolster tourism and investment<br />
Pretoria - Tourism in South Africa is one of the<br />
key economic areas identified by the government<br />
for investment and growth. To this end President<br />
Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced changes<br />
to the visa regime and also appointed former<br />
tourism minister Derek Hanekom and Elizabeth<br />
Thabethe, the current deputy tourism minister<br />
as special envoys to help with his drive to attract<br />
$100bn in new investment. The two will focus on<br />
investment in the tourism industry. Also as part<br />
of the drive to further grow tourism, Ramaphosa<br />
has prioritised immigration reform and changes to<br />
the visa regime. More countries have been added<br />
to the list of visa-free nations for inward tourism,<br />
the requirements on unabridged birth certificates<br />
for young tourists have been abolished, and the<br />
government will be piloting a new e-visa portal<br />
later this year. Through the e-visas, applicants<br />
will be able to access visa’s online, eliminating the<br />
need for applicants to travel long distances to visit<br />
South African missions abroad to acquire visas.<br />
The government has also located visa services<br />
within the offices of various investment facilitation<br />
agencies around the country. In addition visa<br />
requirements have been simplified for countries<br />
such as China and India, which are key markets for<br />
tourism to South Africa, while visa requirements<br />
for a number of countries have been waived.
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