Gigaba Neglects The Impact Of Job-Killing Visa Regulations

Tourism figures released by Stats SA have indicated that the number of tourists visiting South Africa has decreased, as result of the Visa Regulations 2014.

I will write to the Minister of Home Affairs, Melusi Gigaba, to once again call on him conduct a regulatory impact assessment on the extent to which the Visa Regulations 2014 will affect economic growth and job creation.

No such assessment was done before the implementation of these regulations.

The Minister of Tourism, Derek Hanekom, has also warned that these regulations would hamper tourism in South Africa. Yet, Minister Gigaba seems to ignore those who offer evidence based argument for why he must review these regulations, at South Africa’s peril.

In 2014, the Standing Committee on Economic Opportunities, Tourism and Agriculture in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP), of which I am the Chairperson, hosted public hearings to determine the impact of the regulations on the Western Cape economy.

The 79 page report came to the conclusion that the new Immigration Regulations would negatively impact every level of South Africa’s economy and on the national development’s plan to create 1 million jobs by 2030.

I have, on numerous occasions, called on Minister Gigaba to consider the findings of the WCPP Standing Committee report in full, and to conduct a similar impact assessment nationally, since 2014. He has failed to act and is costing our economy jobs.