Dear Mr Ramaphosa
Although I am not the first to do so, allow me to heartily congratulate you on both your election to the presidency and the seemingly positive moves to restore confidence in government after the "dark years" of the Zuma presidency.
No, I don’t want to weigh in on your statements about land expropriation - for the time being I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt on that issue. No, I’m not going to weigh in on the new budget or your new Cabinet. These are early days and I want to enjoy the positive mood South Africa is currently experiencing.
If I were to make any requests of you, it would be for you to immediately tackle the United Kingdom, the European Union and our other commonwealth “friends” (Australia, Canada and New Zealand) about the contentious issue of tourist visas.
It’s time for South Africans to be immediately granted visa-free travel - not in the next ten years, or even next year, but now, in 2018. And if this is not granted, it’s finally time to reciprocate with visa demands (as we have seen happen with NZ).
South Africa needs to try reclaim some pride in its international standing and needs to be taken seriously on the international stage. How can we be taken seriously when we have to subject ourselves to the most horrendous processes in order to secure tourist visas? Why should we disclose our sensitive biological, financial and personal details to strangers, subject ourselves to character interviews, and inconvenience ourselves, families and businesses with trips to embassies - all to spend our hard-earned “tourist dollars” abroad?
I say enough is enough.
Yes, we have had some growing pains - who doesn’t? We have still been an open democracy for 24 years. We have consistently punched above our weight in the UN Security Council, the G20, the AU, SADC and BRICS (among others). We have offered our country up to the world unendingly and hosted the world with the rugby world cup, soccer world cup, cricket world cup and various other sporting and cultural events.
Since time immemorial, the UK, EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have seen fit to accept our doctors, dentists, accountants, engineers, teachers, tradespeople, and more. Yet they have the audacity to continually impose tourist visas on us?
And if you achieve this for us, I am certain you could see somewhat of an influx of professionals and tradesmen/women returning to South Africa, and possibly even a reduction in numbers of those considering emigrating - all the kinds of people we need to help build the economy and the country in general.
It's time this matter was settled and settled expeditiously.
Visa-free travel, please Mr President. It’s time.
