According to Mavuso, Home Affairs recently reversed a decision it made in January to centralize all work visa applications in Pretoria without building up procedures and staff to handle the quantities. This has led to a backlog of nightmare proportions.

She says the duty was returned to diplomatic missions abroad as of 1 September, serving as a welcome reminder that, occasionally, the government does take stakeholders' concerns seriously and take appropriate action. It is unclear, though, whether currently pending applications will continue to be handled in Pretoria or by foreign embassies. Additionally, it must go considerably further and take additional steps to quicken the approvals procedure in nations with significant backlogs.

She says the depressing data released this week showing that the GDP decreased in the second quarter emphasizes how urgently the nation needs foreign investment to support economic growth. We must take all reasonable steps to ensure that investments can enter the country without incident adds Mavuso. She emphasized that there are too many challenges.

Mavuso added that companies that intend to invest in South Africa must either hire personnel with an in-depth understanding of the business' particular operations or bring in expertise in some fields that the nation lacks.  She believes that for essential professionals and their families, work visas are required. However, they are encumbered with excessive regulation, which significantly discourages investment.

A letter from French Trade Adviser in SA, which represents 35 sizable French groups in SA with 15,000 employees, brought the issue to light a few weeks ago, according to BLSA. The CEOs of seven well-known French companies, including Danone, Total Energies, and Alstom, co-signed the letter. They did not ask for any special treatment but instead wanted to draw attention to how onerous the red tape was for all elements of conducting business in South Africa, far beyond visas.

According to a BLSA statement, they had committed to investing R50bn in a pledge made in March at the fourth South African Investment Conference. Already, more than 300 French companies, employing more than 65,000 direct employees, are present in SA. “They play a major role in developing the South African economy, are active in skills development, as well as reinforcing South Africa as the African Hub,” the letter stated.

The statement reads that After receiving the letter Mavuso raised the issue repeatedly in the public domain and more other companies came forward with the same problem – including Unilever, Nestlé and Coca-Cola – and the problems they face extend far beyond work visas.

The government has pledged to reduce red tape, which is stifling the economy at all levels, across all state agencies, but it is clear that this is not proceeding nearly quickly enough to produce inclusive growth. Following the Covid pandemic's devastation, there is an urgent need to reduce the administrative burden on small enterprises. According to a Finfind survey published in November 2020, 42.7% of businesses had to shut down, and those that did survive now face difficulties due to rising inflation. Small enterprises have the best chance of addressing South Africa's problems with inequality and poverty because of their employment potential added Mavuso.

Mavuso ends by saying that at the level of foreign investments, however, bearing in mind that those wanting to invest their money in SA face the additional challenges of loadshedding and corruption as well as rigid labour legislation, it’s critical for the country to make all other aspects of the investment process as smooth as

possible.

OFM/ Lee Simmons