The department of home affairs has reiterated that the requirement
for an unabridged birth certificate for children travelling with
their parents no longer applies, but the parents must still carry
it anyway �` in case customs officials ask to see it at ports of
entry.
This follows a huge outcry among travellers who claimed they were
stopped at ports of entry by customs staff who demanded the
unabridged certificate for their children, despite the
announcement by the department it was no longer a requirement.
The department of tourism recently said tourism supports about 1.5
million jobs directly and indirectly in SA. StatsSA figures for
2016 show the sector directly contributed 2.9% �` or R125.1 billion
�` to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
When the initial requirements were first issued, Tourism Minister
Derek Hanekom took issue with the home affairs decision, saying
the move would kill tourism in SA and impede economic growth. Home
affairs was forced to back off.
Reacting to complaints, tourism spokesperson Siya Qoza yesterday
said the prescription to produce an unabridged birth certificate
was no longer a requirement.
“Only in instances where immigration officials have a reason to
suspect wrongdoing, will they ask for documents.”
Qoza said travellers must still carry the certificate in case it
was needed at a port of entry for the purpose of investigating a
suspect criminal activity by an individual.
If there was something suspicious, immigration officers could stop
a traveller and ask questions to seek clarity, and may also ask
for minor’s birth certificate.
“So it is important parents carry the certificate and other
relevant documents in case,” he said.
However, if a child was travelling with both parents, there would
be no need to produce proof of a relationship. But if the child
was travelling with one parent, a

written consent of the parent
remaining behind would be required to show he or she gave
permission for the child to travel with second parent.
Qoza said the only document required would be an affidavit from
the non-travelling parent. It must indicate that the non-
travelling parent was aware of the child’s travel and that he or
she gave permission.
The department was reacting to reports that a large number of
travellers were being stopped at ports of entry and exit and asked
for unabridged birth certificates for the children they travelled
with �` despite the department having reversed the regulations on
this.
Some complaints on social media, however, contradict this,
claiming officials demanded the documents even in the presence of
both parents.
In a Twitter message this week, Hanekom asked the home affairs
department to ensure it did the right thing to avoid interfering
with tourists to the country.
In his tweet, the minister wrote: “Let me repeat. I hope @
HomeAffairsSA reads this. Both parents travelling with their
children with passports of a visa exempt country: NO additional
documentation required. One parent or adult accompanying the
child: you MAY be required to prove the relationship with the
child.”
In September, the department indicated its intention to scrap the
regulations that required parents who travel with minors to
produce an unabridged certificate at ports of entry. Recently,
former home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba said a consent form
would still be required from both parents for a child to leave the
country.
But parents would no longer need to produce a certificate in the
name of the minor, because the details appear on the parent’s
passport under the new set-up. V.2700

There are fears that more people will be separated by the introduction of a minimum salary level for those wanting UK family visas. Families living in the UK and abroad have raised concerns about what new rules will mean for them as they try to reunite with foreign spouses. In December, the Home Office, which says migration to the UK is too high, announced a package of measures to reduce net migration, following a spike in arrival numbers. V.5318
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An Ethiopian asylum seeker, who does not speak English, claims he was duped by a senior immigration official into paying an admission of guilt fine when he thought he was paying for bail.Two Western Cape High Court judges have condemned the official`s `deplorable` behaviour, set aside the fine, and ordered the immigration official be taken off the case. Tsegaye Esyas claims Annelise van Dyk treated him like an animal which led to him attempt suicide while in police cells. V.5320
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EREMY MAGGS: I want to stay with crime now. Individuals with a criminal record may be faced with significant challenges when seeking employment, I think that’s a given. Here in South Africa, employers may legally exclude an applicant from consideration for a position if having a clean criminal record is what is termed an inherent requirement of the job. That phrase, inherent requirement, is important, but what exactly does that mean, and when can an applicant be lawfully excluded for having a criminal record? V.5321
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As a South African who has adopted a nomadic work lifestyle alongside my wife, Ingrid Lotze, I’ve been an interested observer of South Africa’s snail-pace digital nomad visa (DNV) development process. Despite the optimism surrounding its introduction, the visa seems to miss several crucial marks for digital nomads like us. V.5322
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DA MP says hours lost continue to result in persons being unable to collect their ID documents due to unmanageable queues The DA has been inundated with complaints that the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) systems are offline, resulting in long queues and delayed processing of documents. Through questions posed to the Minister, the DA can now reveal that the DHA has lost over 77 years’ worth of working hours due to system downtime and load-shedding from 2019 to date. Concerningly, this data only relates to hours lost for the application of smart IDs, meaning decades more of working hours could have been additionally lost in other spheres such as passport or visa applications. V.5314
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Home Affairs’ seemingly endless court battles set the department back more than R110-million between April 2023 and the end of February this year. This was revealed in a written parliamentary response by minister Aaron Motsoaledi. He said the department accumulated a litigation bill of R117 692 996.3, higher than the R72 637 944.51 spent the year before. V.5315
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Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) this week revealed that Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) has achieved a ground-breaking milestone by processing more than 10 million passengers over a single financial year. This is the highest number of regional and international passengers processed since COVID-19 V.5316
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In recent years, South Africa has seen a significant influx of immigrants from various African countries, as well as other parts of the world. This has raised important questions about the country`s immigration policies and their impact on job creation for both locals and immigrants. The South African immigration system, like many other countries, is a complex and ever-evolving process that aims to balance the country`s economic needs with its social and cultural interests. Let`s take a closer look at how this system intersects with job creation in South Africa. The South African government implemented the Immigration Act of 2002, which outlines the country`s immigration policies and procedures. Under this act, foreigners are required to obtain a visa or permit to enter, work, or study in South Africa. The type of visa or permit required depends on the intended purpose of the individual`s visit and their country of origin. V.5312
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Due to system downtime and load-shedding, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) lost nearly 141,000 hours of Smart ID application and production time between the 2019/20 and 2022/23 financial years. Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed this figure in a recent response to questions raised in Parliament by Democratic Alliance MP Adrian Roos. Motsoaledi provided a breakdown of smart ID production and application hours lost to technical difficulties and load-shedding per province for each financial year from 2019/2020. These disruptions hit home Affairs offices in the Eastern Cape the hardest, with over 34,000 hours to rotational power cuts and system downtime. Mpumalanga offices lost the next-highest number of hours at 17 V.5313
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Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has said the public has shown great support for the final White Paper on citizenship, immigration and refugee protection which appeared in the Government Gazette on Wednesday. Briefing the media, he addressed what he saw as a long-overdue need to replace an outdated Citizenship Act, as well as enact proposed changes to existing legislation. V.5306
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