Operation Vulindela is a project within the Presidency which has been tasked with, amongst other things, reforming South Africa’s visa regime. It recently published its Quarter 2 2023/34 Progress Update.

The key achievements thus far are listed as the following:

1. Publication of the 2022 Critical Skills List and ensuring that measures are in place to update and publish the List on a predictable schedule. The implementation of this can be see in the addition of veterinarian occupations that were added recently.
2. Implementing and updating the eVisa system to assist in the growth of the tourism sector.
3. Completing and publishing a comprehensive review of the policy framework and processes to facilitate skilled immigration. This is primarily covered by the report that looked at changes to the work visa regime. The recommendations that came out of this report were the following:
   • Streamlining documents required for applications. This is illustrated by the recent directive that did away with the need for radiological reports as well as that Police Clearance Certificates are now only required from countries in which the applicant has lived in the 5 years preceding the application.
   • Introduction of a Trusted Employer Scheme.
   • Creating new visa categories for remoted workers and start-ups.
   • Establishment of a Points Based System.

The Report Back states that DHA has developed revised regulations to cover the above changes, and that they are presently awaiting approval by the Office of the State Law Advisor before they can be published for comment in August 2023. This unfortunately has still not happened but let’s hope its imminent.

4. Adding new countries that don’t require visas to visit South Africa for tourism purposes.

The current focus of the project is to support the recommendations made with regards to the changes in the work visa regime. This includes the publication of the revised immigration regulations and making sure that DHA is properly capacitated to administer the trusted employer scheme and points-based system.