TNW has established that
immigration officials are
selectively enforcing the
new regulations governing the
movement of minors across
SA’s borders.
TNW’s reporter spoke to
several families at OR Tambo
who had cleared immigration
and claimed they were
not asked to present an
unabridged birth certificate,
when this issue was going to
press on June 3. A mother
with a child arriving from
Zimbabwe was asked for
documentation but a Canadian
single parent with a daughter
told TNW she was neither
asked by the airline when she
boarded in Canada nor by
immigration at OR Tambo.
DHA spokesman, Thabo
Mokgola, said the reports
were hearsay and the
regulations were being
enforced across all borders
consistently.
Airlines say there were
no major incidents during
the first few days but warn
it is early days. Stephen
Forbes, spokesperson for
British Airways, says most
passengers were arriving in
SA having commenced travel
prior to June 1, and therefore
did not yet need to provide
additional documentation.
However, whereas the
situation was relatively calm
at SA airports, incidents
have been reported in other
countries where passengers
are flying to SA. Carla Da
Silva, Air Mauritius regional
manager for Southern Africa
and Latin America, says: “We
had a South African family
who were denied boarding due
to confusion regarding the
operating procedures.”
The real impact of the new
immigration regulations will
most likely be felt on forward
bookings, says Otto De Vries,
ceo of Asata. He told TNW
the association was working
with its members to assess
what, if any, impact they
were seeing on their forward
bookings.
A poll survey of eTNW
readers, which received
163 responses, revealed
that 61% of agents had not
had any cancellations as a
result of the new immigration
regulations (see poll on this
page).
Yvonne Horak of Cape Gulf
Travel says there haven’t been
cancellations as passengers
travelling this year lodged their
applications with DHA as soon
as the new regulations were
announced. She says, though,
that there may be people who
opt to travel locally instead of
internationally this year as a
result of the regulations.
Joanne Visagie, sales
and marketing manager of
Beachcomber Tours, says
the new regulations have, so
far, had very little effect on
bookings. “For last-minute
bookings for the June/July
holidays, there probably
has been some impact but
it’s impossible to measure.
Bookings for the past two
months for future travel have
even been a bit up.”
