South Africa has granted Ghana visa-free status- Minister explains

The South African government has granted Ghana a visa-free status, which would see Ghanaian passport holders enter South Africa without any visa.

The South Africa Department of Home Affairs revealed this when it listed Ghana as part of seven countries allowed to enter South Africa without visa.

Last year,  it was announced that Ghana is among a number of countries that South Africa is considering to conclude visa waiver agreements with to allow travelers to enter the country without a visa.

In a speech delivered by South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, on the occasion of the Home Affairs Budget Vote, he said that the decision to waive the visa requirements for Ghanaians is to boost tourism.

“Tourism will soar if we relax visa requirements for entry into South Africa.  We know that Tourism is very important for job creation,” he said.

“Out of the 193 countries who are member states of the United Nations, the Department has granted visa-free status to 75 countries.  Of these 16 are in our continent and are SADC members and 59 are from all over the world.

Today, we wish to announce an addition to our visa-free countries.

These are:

• Qatar
• United Arab Emirates
• New Zealand
• Saudi Arabia
• Cuba
• Ghana
• Sao Tome and Principe

ALSO READ: Full list of visa-free countries for Ghanaian citizens

The Home Affairs Minister further stated that it will enter into discussions with the above-named countries regarding how the visa-free regime will work. 

According to him, the Home Affairs Department still has some homework to do for 3 countries whose combined populations make up close to 30 percent of the world’s population i.e. China, India, and Nigeria.

“While we are busy tackling the matter of the three countries.   For now, in this financial year, we shall increase by 2½ times, the number of people who work for Home Affairs to process visas in both China and India.  We shall also increase by 2 times, the number of people who process visas for our country from Nigeria,” he added.