MEMBERS of the travel and
tourism trade were not invited to
a panel discussion last month,
where Home Affairs Minister,
Malusi Gigaba, sought input on
how best to implement SA’s new
immigration policy, which includes
the requirement for families
travelling with children to produce
an unabridged birth certificate,
come June 1.
Member associations of the travel
and tourism industry, including
Asata, SATSA, the TBCSA, Barsa and
AASA, have not been able to meet
with the Minister of Home Affairs
since October last year, despite the
Minister’s establishing a task team
that was supposed to look
at the new regulations with
a view to balancing does not
negatively impact tourism.
“The TBCSA arranged one
informal meeting with the
DHA in October but, to date,
this task team has not been
formally convened by the DHA
and we have not met since
then,” said Chris Zweigenthal,
ce of AASA. “We are urgently
awaiting the convening of the
task team with all affected
stakeholders as envisaged by
the Minister.”
“We are disappointed
that the TBCSA has been
unsuccessful in securing a
meeting for the industry task
team with the Department of
Home Affairs and that, despite
the indications that a meeting
would take place, a panel has
been established without the
tourism sector’s involvement
or knowledge,” said June
Crawford, ceo of Barsa.
“This is despite the
comprehensive research that
industry has generated on the
impact that these immigration
regulations will have on the
sector and South Africa’s
economy and our continued
efforts to engage with
government.
“With the appointment of
this panel and their alleged
focus being input on how
best to implement the new
Immigration Act, we also see
no moves on the horizon
for the full review that was
promised in the State of the
Nation address recently,” she
said.
David Frost, SATSA ceo,
said the association would
be communicating directly
with the deputy president
regarding the panel. He said
SATSA would be asking for a
suspension of the regulations
so that a fair and equitable
review could take place.
David emphasised the
view that there were better
alternatives to the regulation
that included the requirement
that children travel with an
unabridged birth certificate.
He said he recently attended
a workshop on child trafficking
and exploitation hosted by
the UNWTO World Tourism
Network on Child Protection
at ITB in Berlin. The workshop
was also attended by senior
representatives from Interpol.
“When I mentioned what we
were doing, people looked at
me with shock and horror,”
said David.
He said it was clear from
the workshop that there
was a more sophisticated,
multipronged international
effort that went into
addressing the issue of child
trafficking and exploitation.
At the time of publication,
the Department of Home
Affairs had not released the
names of the people on the
panel or the organisation they
represented.
