New child passports- trade says 'wait and see'

DESPITE the Department
of Home Affairs’ (DHA)
announcement on
December 7 that it will be
possible for South African
passport holders who are
minors to have parents’ details
printed in their passports,
effective February 1, industry
experts say they have adopted
a ‘wait and see’ attitude
before informing their clients.
In a stakeholder briefing
document distributed to
airlines, the DHA announced
it had developed a prototype
of the new South African
passport for minors.
When released, the new
passport will eliminate the
need for underage travellers
to carry an Unabridged Birth
Certificate as the parents’
details will be included in the
passport.
Although the passport is
expected to be rolled out next
month, the DHA warned that
the new passport would first
need to be aligned to the
operating requirements of the
new ‘Live Capture System’.
“The Department is working
closely with its IT Service
Provider to ensure that the
required software releases are
scheduled in support of the
urgency of complying with the
Inter-Ministerial Committee’s
recommendation,” the briefing
document reads.
“As a TMC, we will not
advise clients on the new
passports or process, until
it actually happens,” says
Rachael Penaluna, business
manager of Sure Maritime
Travel.
Rachael says updating
clients on every bit of
information released on the
UBC causes unnecessary
confusion.
Deolinda da Silva, finance
and operations manager of
kulula holidays, says the main
concern with the UBC is that
the goalposts keep changing.
Both Deolinda and Rachael
agree that not having to
travel with supplementary
documentation (like the UBC)
would ease the burden on
South African travellers. But,
for John Ridler, spokesperson
for Thompsons Holidays, the
new passport is merely a
“belated concession in a badly
executed set of rules”.
Monica Horn, product
manager of Harvey World
Travel Franchise Support Team,
remains sceptical on how
beneficial the new passport
will be to South Africans. “If a
family is travelling together, it
will ease the issue. However,
if only one parent or no parent
is travelling, necessary letters
will still be required.”