The draft Immigration Amendment Bill is also intended to stop "faceless people getting permits" to remain in SA, Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma says.

It was necessary to have stricter controls over people coming to South Africa as tourists who once in the country tried to change their status, she told reporters at Parliament.

Dlamini-Zuma cited the example of people getting married within a short period of time and then wanting to change their status to spousal permits.

"There is no country in the world that will just say everyone who comes to visit as a tourist has a right to come and just stay forever. It doesn't happen anywhere and it shouldn't happen in South Africa either.

"People must stick to the law. We are not going to allow illegal activities, and we are not going to be dishing out permits to illegal people," she said.

"What we are really aiming at are the people who come here and really abuse our system thoroughly."

There would be many checks and balances against criminals and people intent on abusing the system.

There were people arriving in some neighbouring states from "across the Indian Ocean" who then crossed illegally into South Africa.

They "now come here and they claim this permit, that permit" when they had actually applied for visas to visit another country, but "they end up in South Africa claiming all sorts of permits", she said.

Immigration also had to be for the benefit of the country.

Government wanted to know why people wanted to change their status and what value they would add to the country.

"We must also make sure that while we have this movement of people between ourselves and the rest of the world, we should also look at our national security and our national interest generally."

Dlamini-Zuma said there was no intention to prevent immigration practitioners -- who have strongly criticised the draft bill -- to consult or operate.

"What we are saying is that we don't want them in our offices. The people they have consulted with must then come to our offices.

"All we are saying is that if somebody wants a permit, we would like to see that person. We can't be dishing out permits to faceless people that we've never seen; just being given forms of people we have never seen."

Practitioners should consult with their clients and the clients should then apply in person.

This was the same as a person applying for a passport, which had to be done in person, she said.