Indian citizens, particularly business leaders, who have complained of lengthy delays in applying for visas to South Africa in recent years may have to wait longer as the government has admitted that their full visa waiting list would not be cleared until the end of June 2024 .

While Indian Missions issue electronic tourist and business visas to South Africans within a week, there is no reciprocal facility for Indian citizens at South African Missions in India.

However, there is hope that business and academia will be given priority after the recent reversal of a decision that centralized all visa matters solely to the Home Office in Pretoria.

“The current backlog across all visa categories is 56,543. The department intends to close the current backlog for all visa categories by June 2024,” Interior Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said last week in response to a question from an opposition MP.

“The average response time varies by visa category,” he said.

However, the minister said there are processes in place for people with critical skills that would be needed in South Africa, where the average response time would now be four to 10 weeks.

Motsoaledi said a target of eight weeks had been set for the processing time for business and general work visas, to shorten it from the current 14 weeks.

Indian companies have long been asking their government and agencies in South Africa to look into the issue.

During a recent conference hosted by CII here, several business leaders underlined how this delay in issuing visas to CEOs and other senior officials of companies looking to invest in South Africa would result in them moving their funds to other countries that they would welcome more readily.

Indian High Commissioner Jaideep Sarkar earlier assured Indian heads of companies present in South Africa that the matter would be dealt with with that country’s authorities.

Indian companies also complained about delays in obtaining work visas for employees.

“Considering that we are hiring staff to train and empower local people, some of whom have actually transitioned from unemployment to managerial positions within our company, one would hope that the South African government would expedite this matter,” the local said Head of a major Indian company with a significant presence in South Africa, who has asked that he or his company not be identified.

One of the challenges for companies was that their visa applications at Indian embassies and consulates in India had to be sent to a central office in Pretoria for processing, causing further delays.

Local international schools and universities, which have been struggling to get their academic staff to South Africa on time, have also joined the growing pressure on that country’s government to reform its visa regime.

South Africa’s missions abroad have been allowed to process visa applications in their offices since September 1, according to several foreign delegates at an investment conference hosted by President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year.

Department officials said backlogged applications will be considered according to the priority needs of businesses and other institutions.