THE Department of
Home Affairs has once
again committed to
printing the names of both
parents in child passports,
negating the need for minors
to travel with unabridged
birth certificates.
However, while the DHA
first announced it in 2016,
it has made no progress in
rolling this out.
The announcement on
July 12, said the printing
of parents’ names on
children’s passports would
begin once upgrades to the
department’s offices had
been completed and the
automation systems were
fully operational.
These upgrades were
scheduled in various
provinces from July 13-20.
Otto de Vries, Asata ceo,
points out that this latest
announcement is only a
rehash of the undertaking
the department has already
made and then failed to
implement.
Printing parents’ names
on children’s passports
was a solution originally
announced by the
department in February
2016, with a promised
roll-out within three to 12
months, and a prototype
coming into effect from
February 2017. This has not
happened, leaving in place
the requirement that minors
travelling internationally
must produce an unabridged
birth certificate. There
are further requirements
for minors travelling with
only one parent or with no
parents, such as affidavits.
“It is absolutely ridiculous
legislation that is hampering
normal, best-practice travel
for travellers to or from
South Africa,” said Otto.
“Home Affairs is making
naïve assumptions about
the structures of families,
which no longer apply in the
real world, especially in the
South African context. What
if a child is estranged from
a parent, or a parent has
died? These are questions
Home Affairs must clarify.”
Tony Da Silva, from Travel
Scent, is optimistic about
the impact, should Home
Affairs deliver. He told
TNW that, since the
introduction of the new
regulations he had had to
drill it into his clients to
make absolutely sure they
were aware of the travelling
requirements for a minor,
but added that, even so, the
process was still stressful
for his clients.
TNW contacted the DHA
on multiple occasions for
further clarity and a more
definite timeline, but no
response was received at
the time of publication.
