SA Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba, has resigned – a day before President Cyril Ramaphosa was due to take disciplinary action following a recommendation by the Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
This followed the Minister being found guilty of lying under oath in the Fireblade operation and the Public Protector’s recommendation that the President take disciplinary action.
The Minister has come under fire for ignoring calls from the travel and tourism industries to amend the Unabridged Birth Certificate (UBC) regulations. He has also failed to gazette amendments to the UBC regulations after undertaking to do so last month.
In a statement released on Tuesday, November 13, Gigaba said his reasons for resigning were “for the sake of the country” and the movement to which he belonged. The position will temporarily be filled by Minister of Transport, Blade Nzimande.
Asata ceo, Otto de Vries, is calling for an urgent repeal of the country’s onerous UBC requirements for South African citizens and a thorough consultation process with industry to develop requirements that balance the need for security with economic growth delivered through travel and tourism.
Satsa ceo, David Frost, also called for a repeal of the UBC requirements. “We as the tourism sector are calling for a renewed effort and engagement to scrap them outright.”
Otto said: “The deliberations have to take into account South Africans wishing to travel abroad. We need to start from the ground up, repeal the regulations and initiate discussions between the public and private sectors so we can try to understand the concerns of government around safety and security, while also looking at the needs of the travel and tourism sector.”
The controversial requirement for travelling families had stifled outbound tourism as it was making it difficult for local families to travel internationally, said Otto.
Although the South African government has announced that it would soon roll out a new child passport that would include the parents’ details and replace the UBC requirement, Otto said this was not an adequate solution. “In our modern South African society, there are many different types of families, with single-parent families no longer a rare exception. As it stands, both parents will be required to be present when applying for a child’s passport. This is not realistic.”
Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, ceo of the TBCSA, agreed: “The Minister may have resigned, but the issues of immigration regulations and visa waivers still stand. So we will be working on changing the status quo, as these have always been issues between the TBCSA and the Department [of Home Affairs]. We intend to continue working closely with the Departments of Tourism and Home Affairs to make sure that we resolve these issues and work toward the growth of tourism in our country.”
Kerry Hayes
