Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, last week updated a travel advisory that states that only a valid passport is required for foreign minors travelling to South Africa.
The confusing wording that UBC documentation “may be required” has been removed from the advisory. Announcing the change at the Lilizela Tourism Awards on November 9, Tourism Minister MMamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said the advisory should be loaded onto the Department of Home Affairs website on Monday, November 11.
The scrapping of UBCs for inbound travellers is good news for tourism, but not for SA pax.
Asata has called the Department of Home Affairs’ decision to scrap the requirement for foreign minors visiting South Africa to carry an unabridged birth certificate without extending it to South African citizens ‘blatant discrimination’.
Otto de Vries, ceo of Asata, says: “By limiting the change to foreign minors only, are we suggesting that South African children are more likely to be victims of child trafficking than their overseas counterparts?
“The requirement to produce a UBC, unless the child’s passport includes the details of both parents of the child and both parents are travelling with the child, is discriminatory not only against South African families, but also against those that do not meet the form of a traditional two-parent household,” Otto continues.
“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 and when the child travels. This is not realistic,” says Otto.
“Furthermore, to say that South Africa should not ‘trouble’ international tourists with the requirement to produce UBCs to combat child trafficking, when we do not extend the same courtesy to our own citizens, is ridiculous.”
The controversial requirement for travelling families has stifled outbound tourism as it is making it difficult for local families to travel internationally, he says.
“We need to repeal the regulations and initiate discussions between 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. This is the only way we’re going to be able to build a meaningful policy from the ground up, remove the current confusion and stimulate outbound family travel,” Otto says.
For more, see this week’s TNW.
