EDITORIAL: Leon Schreiber makes bold start at home affairs

New home affairs minister Leon Schreiber last week moved swiftly to grant temporary extensions to foreigners waiting for the outcome of visa, waiver and appeal applications. This is a strong and significant signal that reforms to boost economic growth could accelerate in one of the departments with the most potential to deliver these quickly.

Some in the ANC will no doubt carp at Schreiber’s bold decision, which came well before all the many ministers in the new cabinet met to mull over policy. But not only is the new minister within his rights to issue the edict he did, he is also acting within existing government policy.

Visa reforms were on the shortlist of priority economic growth-boosting reforms which President Cyril Ramaphosa tasked Operation Vulindlela with pursuing in 2020. That included changes to visa regulations and processes to make it easier for SA to attract and retain the foreign skills it urgently needs, as well as to attract more of the foreign tourists who bring foreign exchange and jobs.

For whatever reason the department of home affairs had been spectacularly inefficient at processing applications for skilled work visas. A study for the presidency a couple of years ago found that SA took much longer than most other emerging markets to process these, and it approved hardly half of the ones it did process. Meanwhile, the skills shortage remains one of the biggest constraints to economic growth and investment — and all the evidence is that skilled immigrants create jobs rather than taking jobs from locals.

SA has also been losing out on tourism from some of the world’s largest and most lucrative markets, most notably China, because of bureaucratic visa barriers. And in the new global era of remote working, it has been losing out on the spending and innovation that skilled and affluent foreigners can bring to the local ecosystem.

Working with Operation Vulindlela, the department has at last ticked most of the boxes on regulatory reforms, as well as implementing new processes that in theory should make it easier to obtain a visa. New regulations remove archaic requirements and allow for remote work visas as well as for a new points-based system for skilled foreign workers. A new trusted employer system has been put in place to fast-track applications. E-visas have been introduced for tourists from a range of countries.

However, all of those still need to be implemented properly if they are to make a difference. Signs are that the changes in theory haven’t yet turned into changes in practice, with the bureaucracy still putting up endless barriers and with backlogs still accumulating. The departmental mindset needs to change fundamentally. So too does the department, which needs to overhaul the way it does things.

Schreiber’s statement last week marked a refreshing change of tone from the government of national unity. It talked about “foreigners who seek to contribute to SA either through their skills or through tourism”. It referred to those with lawful reasons to be here who were being denied their visa extensions for whatever reason, risking adverse consequences. And the new minister stepped up to lead in a way that our stodgy cabinet often doesn’t, simply issuing the temporary concession letter just a day after his appointment.

Now he has a chance to sort out the dysfunction in the visa system. He will need to do it constructively and carefully, building bridges within his new department if he wants to succeed. If he does, it will be a model for other reform-minded leaders to follow.