Cape Town - The Western Cape has urged the Presidency to make haste with the adoption of a start-up and remote working visa as time is of the essence if the country is to reap the benefits.
Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger said a report containing recommendations on the visa was under consideration by the president’s office. Wenger said an announcement during the summer peak season would be the ideal festive season gift.
She said there was no need to wait another year for the visa’s introduction, and that the Western Cape had made this clear in its proposals to the Department of Home Affairs, submitted in May 2021 and again in September 2022.
The proposal set out recommendations that would enable the introduction of this visa within the existing legal framework, through amendments to the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 regulations – without needing to amend the Immigration Act, which is a lengthy process.
When the matter was raised in the provincial legislature, members expressed fears that the remote working visa would allow foreigners to come to the Western Cape and take South African jobs.
However the provincial department’s Economic Sector Support chief director, Ilse van Schalkwyk, said the Immigration Act had regulations that catered for different categories of purpose of travel.
She said people coming into the country on a remote working visa could not be employed by a South African company and must enter the country with an existing work contract from whichever country they were coming from.
She said as minimum criteria to apply for the visa, foreigners would have to show proof of minimum income, have health documentation and travel insurance.
“They apply for a year and they can renew for an additional year, and that’s the limit.”
Cape Town has been highlighted as one of the 20 global hot spot destinations for remote workers, and as a result the City has entered a partnership with Airbnb to attract digital nomads.
Host management company Propr’s managing director Max Urban said he had already seen evidence of more bookings being placed by digital nomads.
“Implementing a remote working visa should be a no-brainer for the national government. There is definitely a window of opportunity which will become less lucrative the longer South Africa waits,” he said.