Eight months after an Inter-Ministerial Committee made recommendations to address the unintended consequences of South Africa’s immigration regulations, no change has been made to the regulations and airlines are turning away minors who do not have the document. According to figures from SAA, as many as 40 passengers are turned away on a daily basis.
Department of Home Affairs spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete told eTNW there would be a change to the requirement for foreign minors to travel with a UBC, while South African children would continue to be required to travel with a UBC or full birth certificate. “What we are trying to do is change it from law to a strong recommendation for people travelling into South Africa,” he said.
According to Mayihlome, the department was “well on the way” in the process to make this change to the regulation. He said there was no definite timeline by when the change to the regulation would be made, emphasising that the priority was to “get it right”. However, he said that an immigration board had been appointed to look at this specific regulation and an announcement was expected within the next couple of months.
Mayihlome said that making the change was not simple and that it was not just a matter of using an eraser and rubbing out the relevant section. He explained that the board would need to ensure that the new regulation was able to “stand legal muster” and adhered to SA’s Constitution, which stated that “children must be protected”. Mayihlome emphasised that the Constitution did not specify South African children and the department had to ensure that parents would not be able to hold the department liable.
He said that once the change had been made, immigration officials would be able to allow entry to minors not carrying a UBC. However, he emphasised that officials would still be able to deny entry to minors who did not produce the UBC.
David Frost, Satsa ceo, said the industry had not had any engagement with the Department of Home Affairs since a February briefing where the department announced it would be relaxing the requirement for the UBC. At the briefing, Frost urged the department to meet with and work with industry, but he said the department had been “impervious”.
