HOPES that government
would repeal regulations
that have frustrated
family travel were dashed
on Tuesday, September
25, when Home Affairs
Minister, Malusi Gigaba,
made his pronouncement
on the country’s immigration
regulations.
Gigaba’s announcement
followed President Cyril
Ramaphosa’s assurance to
the industry that government
would dial back regulations
that had hindered growth of
the tourism industry. Industry
had hoped this would see the
scrapping of the requirement
for minors travelling to and
from South Africa to carry an
unabridged birth certificate.
However, Gigaba said
instead that, rather that
requiring foreign minors to
travel with a birth certificate,
government would “strongly
recommend” that the
parents of these minors
carry documentation to show
their relationship and, in
the absence of one or both
parents, documentation to
show parental consent.
The same leniency is not on
the cards for South African
passport holders.
“SA minors travelling
abroad will have to carry an
unabridged birth certificate
and parental consent if the
minor is not travelling with
parents, or is travelling with
one parent,” said Gigaba. He
added that reference would
no longer be made to an
“unabridged” birth certificate
as all birth certificates issued
by the department listed both
parents’ names.
Moreover, he said the new
child passport, which has
both parents’ or guardians’
particulars captured on the
last page, would replace the
need to travel with the birth
certificate.
Asata ceo, Otto de Vries,
slammed the announcement,
with which the association is
“disappointed and frustrated”.
Otto said the legislation had
stifled the travel industry and
urged the government to apply
the new policy consistently
and across the board.
“If the government only
removes the requirement
for international travellers,
are they suggesting that
only South African passport
holders are guilty of child
trafficking?”
He added that the new
child passport was not an
adequate solution, pointing
out that single-parent families
are no longer a rare exception
and also that the system had
been trialled and abandoned
in India.
This system was scrapped
after lobbying by women’s
rights groups.
However, while Home Affairs
first announced that it would
introduced the child passports
in 2016, these have yet to be
rolled out.
On the inbound side,
concern has been raised
that Gigaba’s announcement
would only confuse travellers.
“[Tuesday’s] vague statements
that a UBC may be requested
by immigration officials, simply
reintroduces the confusion we
fought many years to dispel,”
said Satsa ceo, David Frost.
“The announcement today
doesn’t change anything.
Home Affairs is once again
circling around this issue,”
said interim ceo of the
Tourism Business Council
of South Africa, Tshifhiwa
Tshivhengwa. “We want this
regulation to be completely
removed to re-encourage the
movement of people into
South Africa if we are serious
about creating jobs.”
The Board of Airline
Representatives of South
Africa also expressed
disappointment at “the lack
of clear action to address
and reverse the negative
effects of the unabridged birth
certificate requirements”.
Former Department of
Home Affairs spokesperson,
Mayihlome Tshwete,
described the move in
stronger terms: “Allowing
immigration officers to have
discretion on when to ask for
documentation is a recipe
for disaster,” he tweeted on
Tuesday.
