‘Visa rules hurting businesses, too’
THE new visa regulations are a pain for South African business leaders, according to Ben Kruger, joint CEO of Standard Bank.
The regulations had devastating consequences for businesses with international ties — not just the tourism industry.
Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom and Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba are at loggerheads over the new regulations, aimed at curbing child trafficking. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has been called in to referee the tiff.
The regulations, which came into effect in June, require all children travelling in or out of South Africa to have an unabridged birth certificate. Tourists planning to travel to South Africa must report to South African embassies in their countries for the collection of biometric data.
Kruger said he understood and accepted that the Home Affairs Department needed to address child-trafficking problems, describing it as a “noble cause”. But, he said, it would be naive to think that these measures would stop trafficking.
“It is a really blunt instrument that was ill-conceived. I think they will change it.” It was like “taking a sledgehammer to a small problem”.
Kruger, whose company is 20% controlled by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said these measures were “terrible” for tourism: “Tourism is something this country should be strong about.”
Tourism figures from Stats
‘TERRIBLE’: Ben Kruger SA this month showed that Chinese tourist numbers fell by 38% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. Overall tourist numbers declined by almost 6% to 2.3 million. Grant Thornton Advisory Services calculates the direct spend lost to the economy to be R1.6-billion.
Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani, who gave a talk at Gordon Institute of Business Science last month, also had much to say on the matter.
The new visa regulations are at odds with Chinese measures to fly to South Africa with ease. Air China recently confirmed that it planned to launch direct flights to South Africa.
It is a really blunt instrument that was ill-conceived
Ramaphosa has said the new visa laws were essential as they were aimed at protecting the security and sovereignty of the country.
But other CEOs have called for the scrapping of the regulations instead of “wasting money and time” debating them.
Tourism Business Council of South Africa CEO Mmatsatsi Ramawela said the regulations were “not in tune with global trends. Our concerns emanate from looking at how other destinations that are serious about growing their tourism economy are addressing the same security challenges.”