SOUTH AFRICANS in Ireland have expressed their anger following the UK’s decision to target them with visa restrictions.
The British High Comm-ission recently announced that from 3 March, all South African passport holders will require a visa to visit or transit the country. Presently, South Africans are permitted to visit the UK without a visa and stay on for six months.
It is believed the move is an attempt to clamp down on people smugglers, illegal immigrants and terror suspects entering the country, with South African passports being among the most abused travel documents in the world.
However, South Africans in Ireland – who will be affected when visiting or transiting Britain and Northern Ireland – have hit out at the measure.
University graduate Philip Mope, who lived in London and is now based in Tallaght, termed the move “outrageous” and suggested that British authorities have short memories.
“They’ve obviously forgotten that many South Africans laid down their lives for Britain in two World Wars and this is how they repay South Africans.”
Reports suggest that South Africa has become a new base for terrorist activities, and the visa move is principally an attempt to counter the changing tactics of so-called Islamic extremists. The visa restriction has also been linked with the high level of abuse of South African passports.
But many South Africans have hit out at a policy which will predominantly affect law-abiding nationals wishing to visit or transit the United Kingdom for business or tourism purposes.
Philip Mope commented: “What sickens the ordinary South African is that our name has been, to a certain extent, tarnished. The traffickers in human beings and drugs have used South African passports.”
He said Nigerians and Zimbabweans are among the nationalities known to acquire South African passports through unlawful means.
“Let’s see how many Zimbabweans and Nigerians will still claim to be South Africans when this privilege is gone,” he added.
Almost 420,000 South Africans entered Britain in 2007. It is understood that the standard visitors visa for tourists will cost €78, valid for multiple entries over six months. A six-month transit visa to the UK for those passing through will cost €54.
Although Ireland shares a ‘common travel area’ with the UK, meaning there are no passport controls at the border for those entering the UK from Ireland, the British Embassy in Dublin has confirmed that a visa will still be required for South Africans resident in Ireland.
By Mpumi Gabaatlolwe
