Foreign Affairs Cabinet secretary Alfred Mutua has said Kenya and South Africa share good bilateral ties.
Speaking on Wednesday the CS said the visa free plan is going on well between the two states.
“The reports I have on my desk is that everything is proceeding very well,” Mutua said.
South Africa removed visa requirements for Kenyans travelling to the nation beginning January 2023, for a maximum of 90 days.
This was among issues, inked in the Memoranda of Understanding and cooperation agreement, to augment bilateral relations between Nairobi and Pretoria.
The signing was witnessed by President William Ruto and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa in November 2022.
CS Mutua said the visa free entry was a hard bargain and during the bilateral talks it became an issue.
He said some of the issues raised were boarder controls and people transiting through Kenya.
“We said we can work together and what we as Kenyans bargained for is what other people have to have ; good relations for our business people and you can travel for 90 days without getting a visa,” Mutua said.
“This has released the visa war regime not only for visitors but for workers, business people, traders and its great for us.”
The CS said South Africa is a very big market and Kenya is looking at the trade aspect of it.
"We saw that South Africa doesn’t import tea from Kenya but from another country, which gets it from Kenya. Now we want SA to import it directly. The partnership goes deeper than amapiano,” he said.
