‘Good times over good morals’ - Experts weigh in on Chris Brown's visa

For the past 13 years, Chris Brown's stardom has been marred by a history of violence that resulted in bans and cancellations. However, his broken brand may have been restored by South African fans, who showed up in droves for his two-day performance at Johannesburg's FNB Stadium.

From dance challenges to wedding proposals, the concert was an exciting time for fans of the pop star, but it left a sour taste in the mouths of citizens and activists who were concerned about his return to the country following his crimes.

One particular organisation that took an assertive response was Women for Change, whose members were often threatened for their efforts to have Brown's visa application denied. With neither the home affairs nor sports, arts and culture ministers responding to their petition of over 50,000 signatories, this has left a gaping hole in the validity of visa denial in the country.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, home affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza was not aware of any applicable preamble or law that would prohibit Brown from entering the country. As he has already left the country, he is therefore no longer a concern. Qoza said the department could not disclose any information on the application made by Brown as it is a private document that cannot be disclosed to the public.

The same sentiment was held by immigration attorney Ashraf Essop, who said Brown's personal information is “a matter between state and the applicant”. However, he said home affairs has denied a high-level visa application before.

“You have various interest groups that will object to a person coming into the republic,” he said, “the Dalai Lama was invited here and it [his visa] was denied. There was a lot of feet dragging there and the supreme court of appeal said that taking an unreasonable time to process an application is unlawful, so the Dalai Lama was advised to cancel his application.”

Essop added that any grievances citizens may have against a public figure entering the country can be expressed, but the government must respond based on the legislation that they are guided by. The preambles on this legislation do make note of laws including convictions that can get your application denied.

Essop also shared that the process if not as rigorous for visa-free countries. Those with visa applications do require a lot more information.

“In the case of Chris Brown, because he was performing, he would need a visa for work purposes. In that form he would have to make a declaration whether he is a criminal or not. If you have a criminal record, this would reduce your chances of getting a visa,” he said. He added that countries such as the UK, where an applicant's record can reflect their criminal record but within a certain period of time, the hold-over time would not limit your chance of getting a visa. In South Africa, there has been no evidence of expungement.

“I don't know if Mr Brown's record was expunged or not, but it's been heavily publicised that he has a criminal record. That would have been a consideration for the visa officer to take into account, because they have to exercise that discretion [in] the proper way.”

For citizens and groups looking to take action against public figures like Brown, Essop says that effective action can be taken for a review if there is proof of the constitution not being upheld, or if they are an affected party. In this case, the documentation that was applied with can be made accessible to them or special interest groups like the Council of the Advancement of the South African Consitution.

Bulelwa Adonis, spokesperson from Women for Change, said the organisation would continue its work in fighting against gender-based violence. Responding to how she felt about Brown's approval to enter South Africa, she referenced a post on the matter stating that South Africans value “good times over good morals”.

“One thing our government officials in general have constantly shown is that there is only a matter of concern to anything pertaining to GBVF (gender-based violence and femicide) when it's 16 Days of Activism or on Women's Month. Consistency towards this has never been a thing,” she said.

In a recent Sunday Times story on the matter, Adonis shared that their members received numerous threats from Brown fans that have worsened since then.

“Just yesterday a we shared one of the DMs that was sent our way that included a rape threat, where he was hoping he would find us and rape us.”