Six months after a declaration by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Kigali, that South Africa will resume issuance of visas to Rwanda wishing to travel to the country, consular services are yet to be restored at the South African Mission in Kigali.

On September 25, the South African government announced a new “relaxed” foreign affairs regime that waives visa requirements for citizens of several countries and grants others visas on arrival.

The South African Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba said that the move was in line with Pretoria’s Africa-centred foreign and immigration policies aimed at making it easier for tourists, business people and academia to enter South Africa.

He said that negotiations were being finalised for Visa Waiver Agreements for ordinary passport holders of Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Sao Tome & Principe, Tunisia, Saharawi-Arab Democratic Republic and Ghana.

These will be in addition to ordinary passport holders of 15 of the 16 Southern Africa Development Community countries, who do not require visas to visit South Africa, with the exception of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

However, conspicuously missing on Mr Gigaba’s list was Rwanda, whose citizens have not been getting South African visas since 2014.

Back in March, President Ramaphosa had declared; “The issue of visas by Rwandese to South Africa, consider it as a matter that is solved,” amidst an applause from the audience at the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

He said that he had met with his Rwandan counterpart President Paul Kagame and they had agreed to resolve the visa issue and they had decided that they were going to put the “relationship between South Africa and Rwanda on a much better footing.”

At the time, the two Foreign Affairs Ministers Lindiwe Sisulu of South Africa and Louise Mushikiwabo of Rwanda were tasked “to work on the matter immediately.”

To date, little progress has been made to fully restore relations between the two countries following a 2014 diplomatic row triggered by the killing of Rwandan dissident and former chief of external intelligence, Patrick Karegeya.

Sources say the two countries are yet to agree on the fate of Rwandan exiles including Lt-Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa, who lives in South Africa as a refugee.

Rwanda’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe told The EastAfrican that: “We are still working on the issue. The decision was taken, the political will is there. We are in still in consultation with our South African friends on the best way to do it.”

Asked what the hurdles could be in the negotiations, Mr Nduhungirehe said that it was simply bureaucracy.

Since becoming president in February, Rwanda has been counting on President Ramaphosa to fully restore diplomatic ties and usher in a new dawn of relations between the two countries.

Bilateral ties between Rwanda and South African have been strained since the 2014 diplomatic spat, and later the two countries expelled diplomats from either side.

South African sent away Rwandan diplomats it suspected of planning attacks on Rwandan dissidents in South Africa and Kigali retaliated by expelling South African diplomats in Kigali, leading to a near-severing of diplomatic ties.

Both countries however maintained embassies and ambassadors in place but with no diplomatic staff. Since 2016, the two countries have been trying to restore relations but at a slow pace. Despite reappointing diplomats, South Africa is yet to appoint a visa official to Kigali, meaning that Rwandans still cannot get visas to South Africa.

Rwanda maintains that the presence of wanted Rwandan dissidents including Lt-Gen Nyamwasa, as well as presence of Rwanda National Congress, an opposition outfit, on South African soil will remain a stain in relations.

Prior to the expulsion of diplomats by both countries, South Africa was one of Rwanda’s biggest trading partners and a common destination for Rwandan students and businesses but with no functional consular services, trade and travel between the two nations dwindled since 2014.

South Africa said it is reviewing its visa regime for other Africa countries in line with the African free movement agenda.

“Where we are unable to waive visas for objective risks, we will implement other measures to ease travel,” Minister Gigaba said, adding that they are simplifying visa requirements for countries such as China and India.