Basotho have been accorded 90 days visa-free whenever they cross the border into their neighbouring South Africa as opposed to the normal 30 days.

This surfaced at the signing agreement between the Ministers of Home Affairs Lesotho and South Africa on Thursday at the Maseru border. The signing also included an agreement regarding the return of third country nationals.

In his remarks, Minister Lebona Lephema said they are pleased to report that they have both lived to their commitments to resolve some of the difficult issues facing the two countries, saying it has not been an easy journey as they have had difficult discussions but all of which intended to balance among others national security concerns while making it easier for law abiding citizens to travel amongst their common ports and reside in their respective countries peacefully.

He said it is important for Basotho to understand that South Africa does not have any problem whatsoever with Basotho travelling, studying and the laws of the land. He appealed to  people to respect not just the laws of Lesotho but also the laws of South Africa.

He mentioned that South Africa has a concern regarding third country nationals who use Lesotho as a conduit to the former and Basotho who frequently commit crimes in the neighbouring country such as illegal mining (zama zama) and many more.

“We have witnessed the signing of an agreement regarding the return of third country nationals where Lesotho has taken a step to ensure that Lesotho cannot be used as a fertile ground for criminal activities such as smuggling and human trafficking,” he said.

He added that they are not signing today for the sake of signing but truly believe in the spirit of Ubuntu, saying this is the positive progress they are making to apply stringent measures to ensure that they issue visas and residence permits to deserving migrants.

He stated that the 90-day visa is set to be effective as soon as South Africa has received its precedence minute, saying that could be in less than a month.

He noted that Basotho were expecting the return of the old six-month visa, saying he has requested Minister Motsoaledi to accord them six months, saying the current laws of South Africa will not permit it. He added that soon they are looking forward to crossing the border under the new dispensation suitable for the special relationship of the two countries.

Moreover, he mentioned that they are in the process of enhancing their border management system to include variables such as eBorder, eVisa and eResidence permits, saying they have implemented a robust verification mechanism for all third country nationals before they could even depart from their place of origin.

On the other hand, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the 90 days visa-free means that Basotho will stay in South Africa for 90 days which could be extended to 180 days, saying beyond that the law does not allow.

He stated that in the return agreement, they try to resolve where people come and go as they want in their countries.

He said it is important that borders be managed while at the same time agreeing on the movement of goods and people.

Minister Motsoaledi said Lesotho is the only South Africa’s neighbouring country accessing health services, schools and others. He highlighted that they are now going to repeal the study visa for students in primary and post primary schools, saying he believes that study visas should apply only to tertiary students.

Meanwhile, Lesotho is the second country to sign the 90-day agreement following Kenya.

Source: LENA 14/03/2024