South Africa: No preferential treatment for visa rules

SA Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba

SA Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba, who was addressing the media in Parliament on the implementation of cabinet concessions to the immigration regulations on Wednesday has said that if the president can respect the country's visa regulations, then surely a superstar, no matter how famous, has to respect them too, News24 reports. This comes after award-winning British actor Idris Elba reportedly cancelled a trip to South Africa at the last minute after his daughter, Isan, failed to meet the new immigration requirements passed into law earlier this year.

Elba played the role of Nelson Mandela in the award-winning film based on the icon's life, Long Walk to Freedom. Gigaba said that as Elba was a British national, he did not have to apply for a visa and therefore only found out when he was told by an airline that he could not travel with his daughter without the proper birth certificate and permission from the mother.

"The principle is [that] no matter how important or famous you are, South Africa has sovereign laws which apply to all," Gigaba said.

He said Zuma recently had to give permission for his children to travel overseas, and had respected the regulations. Gigaba said the concessions by Cabinet to ease the implementation of the amended legislation and regulations would take time. The concessions would come into effect after January 2016, he said.

"If we proceed carelessly without that legal instrument, we will be undermining our own legislation and placing ourselves in a constitutionally compromising situation for which we will be legally liable."