by Joseph Ngwawi – SANF 06 No 66
Southern African countries have agreed to relax visa requirements while member states upgrade their operational systems in line with a regional plan to facilitate the movement of people across borders.
The Council of Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which met in Maseru, Lesotho, ahead of the 2006 Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government resolved that visa exemption among member states should be the number one priority while countries prepare for implementation of the Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons in SADC.
Council, which is the highest decision-making body within SADC outside Summit, noted that full implementation of the protocol may take time as it involves a lot of decisions to be undertaken in relation to infrastructure, services and procedural policies.
The Protocol on the Facilitation of Movement of Persons in SADC was approved by southern African leaders at last year’s SADC Summit held in Botswana.
“Council thus urged SADC member states to consider, in the meantime, relaxation of visa requirements amongst each other, which would also increase intra-SADC tourism and general trade growth,” said incoming Council chairperson and Lesotho’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Timothy Thahane.
Some SADC countries have already scrapped visa requirements for citizens from another member state. These include Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland, whose citizens no longer require visas to cross borders between the three countries.
Others such as Angola require visas for visitors from all the other 13 SADC countries.
The visa exemptions will be complemented by the introduction of a UNIVISA system, which will allow visitors from outside the region to use one visa to travel around the region.
Thahane announced that a regional strategy on the implementation of the UNIVISA and visa exemption system will be tabled before the heads of state and government, who meet on 17-18 August in Maseru.
He noted that SADC countries are at various stages of readiness for the successful implementation of the UNIVISA and visa exemption system.
Immigration, security, information technology, statistical and judiciary issues are some of the outstanding issues that need to be addressed by member states.
Constraints include the need to establish a standardised computer system at border posts and foreign embassies and harmonisation of immigration procedures across all countries in the region.
Visa exemptions for SADC citizens and the introduction of the UNIVISA system are being pursued vigorously ahead of South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It is hoped that the UNIVISA will be in place by 2008 to facilitate smooth movement of soccer teams from outside the region and their supporters.
Lesotho takes over the rotating chair of SADC from Botswana, which has led the regional organisation for the past 12 months.
Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili of Lesotho will chair SADC for the next year before handing over to another southern African leader, normally the head of the country hosting the 2007 Summit.
