The South African government has added Ghana and six other nations to its list of visa-free countries.
This means that Ghanaians will no longer need a visa to travel to South Africa.
A post on South Africa’s Home Affairs Twitter page said Ghana, New Zealand and Cuba have been granted free-visa status’.
The other countries are Sao Tome and Principe, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“Tourism will soar if we relax visa requirements for entry into South Africa. We know that Tourism is very important for job creation,” South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, said.
“Out of the 193 countries who are member states of the United Nations, the Department has granted visa-free status to 75 countries. Of these 16 are in our continent and are SADC members and 59 are from all over the world.”
According to him, the Department of Home Affairs will immediately enter into discussions with the respective countries about how a visa-free regime will work.
The Minister added: “While Home Affairs Department core mandate is issuing identification, we also contribute significantly to economic growth.
“We do this by making life easier for our sister Departments such as Tourism to boost their tourism figures.”
