South Africa on Wednesday announced it will grant visa-free entry to citizens of seven more countries including Ghana and Sao Tome and Principe. The announcement was made by Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi during his budget vote speech this week.
Other states included in the list are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, The United Arab Emirates, Cuba and New Zealand. Currently, the South Africa Department of Home Affairs has granted visa-free status to 75 countries. South Africans can visit 99 countries around the globe visa-free.
According to the Minister, the granting of visa-free status is aimed at boosting tourism. “Tourism will soar if we relax visa requirements for entry into South Africa. We know that Tourism is very important for job creation,” he noted.
The South African government also announced that it will start the implementation of the country’s e-Visa regime by November 2019. Also speaking at the budget meeting deputy minister of Home Affairs, Njabulo Nzuza said that “This regime will place technology at the centre of our operations by making it easy, yet secure, to enter South Africa,”
