We won’t know what we’ve lost till ‘golden visa’ leavers are gone

A phenomenon which shows a state or territory in crisis is that its citizens start looking to buy “golden exit visas” by obtaining foreign passports through investment, rather than inheritance or naturalisation.

That’s what happening in Hong Kong at the moment, as the wealthy (and not-so-wealthy) in that Chinese-run territory start looking into their future options as questions arise about Beijing’s commitment to the “one state, two systems” compromise administration.

And, as we report today, South Africans with money and with no other access to a foreign passport are doing the same thing.

These people are considering countries such as Cyprus, Portugal, Greece and other European Union (EU) nations such as Latvia as a way of getting access to a coveted EU passport.

There are, it must be said, a number of reasons for this increase in enquiries to emigration agents, but it cannot be denied that, at the heart of it, is a lack of faith in a stable and prosperous future in South Africa.

Some will be looking to secure themselves a “bolthole” should things really go wrong here and the investment will enable them to get some money out of South Africa.

At the same time, some would like passports from EU countries because it will make travelling abroad – especially to the large economic and tourist hubs in Europe and North America – much easier.

Currently, South African citizens require costly visas to travel to these countries.

The government’s plan to amend tax legislation to begin taxing SA citizens living and working abroad has caused a number of those staying offshore to finally decide to pull up their remaining roots here.

There might be those who say “good riddance”, but many of those looking to leave are highly skilled people who support many other people in jobs.

We will feel their loss.

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