It is about keeping out the neighbours

THE Minister of Home Affairs
has provided no explanation
backed with figures on
how the new immigration
regulations will reduce child
trafficking, for which there
are already laws and which
is almost entirely a domestic
problem.
In any event, this regulation
is not enforceable and cannot
be introduced.
Stats SA has just released
the Tourism and Migration
statistics for November 2014
and it makes interesting
reading. For every South
African travelling abroad,
three foreign travellers enter
the country. Of the foreign
travellers entering the country,
the 600 000 from SADC
states are three times more
than those from overseas.
The 29 000 minors under 15
years from SADC states is
almost five times higher than
those from overseas.
Why is this important?
According to a Unicef report
published December 2013,
Southern and East Africa are
the worst regions in the world
for the registration of births.
Only 38% are registered and,
in a country like Lesotho, 60%
of those that are registered
have no documentary proof of
registration.
Go to the website of the
Lesotho Ministry of Home
Affairs and try and see how
to apply for a birth certificate.
It is not even one of their
strategic goals.
So yes, it is relatively simple
for a South African to get
an unabridged certificate for
a family holiday but if this
regulation is enforced, think of
those families for whom there
is almost no solution.
In the absence of being
able to substantiate the claim
that the regulation is about
trafficking, it would appear that
the real objective is to keep
minors out of South Africa
from Zimbabwe, Lesotho,
Mozambique, Swaziland and
Botswana, probably for the
reason that we don’t want
them to use our facilities.
However, so many of our
neighbours’ citizens are going
to be affected and outraged
by this development that
the minister would spark an
SADC diplomatic nightmare
beyond his comprehension
if he were to go ahead with
this regulation on June 1. He
will have to back down and
the earlier he does, the less
humiliation he faces.