SA, UK visa talks resume at bi

The Smart ID Card.

SA, UK visa talks resume at bilateral forum

Optimistic comments from UK Foreign Secretary William Hague raise hopes that SA’s strides in ID card security will mean the dropping of the visa requirement for South African travel to the UK in the near future

SA, UK visa talks resume at bi

The Smart ID Card.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that he had held talks with South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs about British visa requirements for South African travellers. Speaking in Cape Town, Hague told the press that UK officials “recognise the progress made in enhancing border security processes and… look forward to deepening the co-operation in this area”.

‘Improvements’ refers to South Africa’s state-of-the-art new Identity Cards, introduced with much fanfare in July this year, at an estimated cost north of R5.2 billion according to ITWeb.co.za’s Mariné Jacobs. The ID cards, which will have a turnaround time of roughly 3 days versus 54 for the old ID books, bring South Africa up to date in the fight against illegal migration. The cards boast physical security features such as holograms, laser engraving and personal details which will provide visual verification of the card and easily identify tampered cards. Logical security features include fingerprint biometrics and biographic data which is embedded on the 80kb card chip. The upgrade has been accompanied by other changes, such as a thorough clean-up of the General Population Register.

The United Kingdom had previously imposed a visa requirement on South Africans in 2008, in the wake of terrorist activity in the UK. After the 7/7 bombings in London, the Rainbow Nation’s easily faked passport presented an unacceptable risk to the UK, but the visa requirement came as a heavy blow to a country that was in British possession between 1806 and 1961.

Yet Hague’s words, on a visit in which much mention has been made of expanded trade and cooperation between the governments, were eagerly received by South Africans. Hague’s South African counterpart, Minister for International Relations and Cooperative Government Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, was pragmatic: “We encourage [the British government] to quicken their steps, because this is just one small hindrance which can be attended to and they committed that they are giving it attention.”

Despite the expense of the visa requirement, the United Kingdom remains a destination of choice for South Africa tourists and emigres. The inverse is also true; Department of International Relations and Cooperative Government (DIRCO) figures show that 438 000 British tourists came to soak up South African sun and sights in 2012.

On the pricklier issue of the UK’s impending 2015 aid cut to South Africa, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan met UK International Development Justine Greening on Tuesday. Declining to comment on the aid issue, Hague gave food for thought at the close of his briefing. Referring to the UK-SA relationship as a close one that had been sorely tested, and thereby strengthened, over the past 207 years, he said,”This sign of growth [in tourist arrivals] shows that we are taking full advantage of our diasporic communities in each of our countries. Our ‘people to people’ connections are closer than they have ever been”.

Read more on visas and immigration between South Africa and the UK:

Legally Speaking | Visitor and Visitor-in-Transit visas for the UK

Exposed: UK/ SA company running alleged ‘visas to nowhere’ scam

The top 10 visa-free destinations for South Africans 2013