Officials fail to check yellow fever cards

IMMIGRATION officials
at OR Tambo have not
been checking yellow
fever certificates when
passengers arrive back
in South Africa from
yellow fever areas,
leading passengers to
question agents whether
the vaccination is really
necessary.
Anna Cunningham, owner
of Sand & Sun Tours, and
Anton Van Den Heever,
manager of incentives
of Duma Travel, have
both been made aware
that immigration officials
have not been checking
certificates lately.
Lois Gibbs, owner of
Travelwiz, had a group of
91 fly from Johannesburg
to Buenos Aires via São
Paulo on Latam Airlines
in mid-July. At no point
during the trip were any of
the passengers asked to
present their yellow fever
certificate. Considering
that the group had spent
R54 600 on vaccinations
and most of them were
70 or older – an age that’s
considered risky for yellow
fever vaccinations – they
have asked Lois whether
the vaccination was actually
necessary.
While yellow fever
requirements are not
an airline rule, June
Crawford, ceo of Barsa,
says airlines should be
checking health and safety
requirements such as
yellow fever certificates
anyway. “If the airline does
not check certificates,
the possibility of the
passenger being refused
entry and repatriated at the
airline’s expense is high.
Agents should also advise
passengers of health
requirements.” The DHA
could not comment at the
time of publishing.