527 days and still no Remote Working Visa
21 July 2023
The Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, has confirmed in a letter to the Western Cape Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Opportunities and Tourism, that his department has missed its own deadline to introduce the Remote Working Visa in South Africa by the end of June this year.
This means that it has now been 527 days and counting since President Ramaphosa first announced the intention to introduce this much needed and sought after visa category, in his February 2022 State of the Nation Address.
Remote workers, or Digital Nomads, are people who have jobs elsewhere in the world, who because of remote working options, would prefer to conduct this work (and spend their foreign earnings) in our beautiful destination.
This means that the introduction of a remote Working VISA is a clear win-win solution to boost long-stay tourism in the Western Cape and South Africa and is very much in line with South Africa Tourism’s drive to get tourists to stay longer. Today I attended a workshop convened by Minister of Tourism, Minister de Lille, it is clear that we need to work much harder to increase the number of tourists visiting South Africa. The Remote working visa is an excellent way to achieve this.