The Ha-de-da bird has just that sound. If you have not been acquainted with it as yet, prepare to be enchanted. This bird´s calls sound like ¨Ha-ha¨, and due to its long beak, the sound massages your ears and entrances your mind like the most beautiful oboe symphony. It is not the prettiest bird; with a hauntingly beautiful sound like that, it does not need to be pretty. Ornithologists,  bird-watchers, and nature-lovers, come to South Africa to delight at its wonderful chorus in the skies.

A rare picture of a nesting pair of Ha-de-das in urban Cape Town. Note the long oboe-like beak.

To get your Visa for South Africa, just contact us here. Enjoy your stay!

Table Mountain is now officially one of the seven natural wonders of the world. This mountain is a wonderfully inspiring place to visit, hike, climb, absail, or simply sit and have a spot of lunch, enjoying some great views. The wild animals here are within walking distance and you can see the world closest genetic relative of the Elephant, the Rock Dassie, sunning themselves within easy reach; wonderful!

Visiting South Africa and want to stay longer? Coming as a student to enjoy our beautiful country? Or maybe you would like to retire in South Africa amongst the most beautiful places in the world? Get your visa or permit with us here!

Volunteer Visa for South Africa

Nationals who are visa restricted must apply for a visa if they wish to enter South Africa for any period not exceeding three (3) years for the purpose of engaging in research activities.

Certain Nationals may proceed to South Africa without a visa, at which point they will be admitted for an initial period of 3 months, within which they may apply for the renewal of their permits in South Africa.

“Professional skills were critically needed as the country moved into higher economic gear, deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on March 27th.

Speaking during the launch of the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa), Mlambo-Ngcuka said nothing short of a skills revolution would extricate the country from the skills shortage crisis it faced.

The accelerated and shared growth initiative for South Africa (Asgisa) has identified six factors that constrain growth. One of these is the shortage of skilled labour. Jipsa is a high-level task team and its job is to identify urgent skills needs and advise on ways to respond to these challenges.

“The immediate focus of Jipsa will be on skills identified by Asgisa. These include skills needed for infrastructure development in government, the private sector and state-owned enterprises, the expanded public works programme and public service and social service delivery,” she said.

“Skills are not just one of the constraints facing Asgisa but a potentially fatal constraint. That fact should be admitted with emphasis.”

She said Jipsa was only focusing on scarce and critical skills without which the country could not deliver on Asgisa commitments and targets.

A shortage of skills is hampering attempts to grow the economy faster, and the government has said it would speed up work permits for foreigners.

Mlambo-Ngcuka said Jipsa must put in place a system to bring in volunteers, retirees and other people with the skills required and identified.

Based on Asgisa, priorities working areas identified for Jipsa are high-level, world-class engineering and planning skills for network industries, transport, communications and energy, all of which are at the core of the country’s infrastructure programme.

Bobby Godsell, the chairman of Business Unity SA, said there was a need for a skills strategy that was both occupation-relevant and rich in transferable skills. “In this regard we must be careful that the concept of learnership is not robbed of all occupational content,” Godsell said.

“This concern is occasioned by the phenomenon of unemployed graduates. Employers are clearly not sourcing new trainees from among the corps of graduates available for the labour market,” he said.”