DA says Visa Hold-Ups Costing SA Millions

CAPE TOWN – The opposition Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday the loss of R64 million a month in holiday accommodation revenue between April and June – and loss of holiday makers – can be directly ascribed to the government’s rollout of its biometric visa programme.

The programme, introduced last year, requires certain visa applicants to actually go to a South African mission in their own country to have fingerprints taken, among other things. Many countries, in contrast, collect the biometrics data on the visitor’s arrival in the country they are going to.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Fatima Chohan, apparently said on 18 September that the department is considering collecting biometric data on arrival from visitors to South Africa.

“For every month we delay this move”, the DA said, quoting statistics released on Tuesday by Statistics SA, “millions of rands are being lost to the economy and jobs are being lost.”