Motsoaledi: Home Affairs will gain nothing by destroying tourism

This after reports that the department told international visitors, hoping to extend their stay by a further 90 days, to leave South Africa two months earlier than they would otherwise have expected.

This prompted a spike in legal grievances, including contempt of court cases.

Most of the court cases involve the operations of the department regarding visas and permits for foreign visitors, immigrants and prospective refugees.

Motsoaledi briefed the media on issues pertaining to immigration and visas in Pretoria on Sunday.

He said the department continues to work closely with the tourism industry.

“The Department of Home Affairs will gain nothing by destroying the tourism industry, which is regarded as one of the pillars of the economy not only in South Africa but in many other countries.

“I did concede that this was a very unfortunate circular which should not have been issued because matters it was trying to clarify could have easily been addressed in the normal course of operations between the Border Management Authority and the department. 

“We arrived at the condition that if indeed the circular had an effect to chase tourists out of the country, we needed to find a way to resolve that, hence we needed to check at the borders if there was a significant spike of people who had visited South Africa as tourists and are leaving. If there was such a spike, we wanted to act in mitigation.

“When you say you are coming here visa-free as a visitor and tourist, it means you are given 90 days. In terms of the Act, you can extend that by another 90 days to make it 180 days after which there is no provision in the Act for a further extension."

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