The Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration has warned, in a
new official release sent out on April 24, that children under the age
of 18 travelling to and from Namibia must carry original or certified
full birth certificates in addition to their passports.
The South African travel and tourism industry has been fighting
against this very requirement for three years. The industry’s victory
in November, when the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA)
finally eased the documentary requirements for foreign children
entering South Africa, was short-lived when the DHA immediately issued
a contradictory travel advisory that caused airlines to continue
denying boarding to minors without certificates for five months after
the change was published in the Government Gazette.
However June Crawford, CEO of the Board of Airline Representatives of
South Africa (Barsa) confirmed this week that Iata was now advising
check-in staff not to request birth certificates from minors who have
South African visas or who are exempt from visas if travelling with
their parents with the same surname. This change came about after the
DHA issued a new travel advisory on April 2, which clearly and
unambiguously states that only a passport is needed for children under
18 if they travel with parents on a visa-exempt passport. Most of
SA’s major inbound source markets are visa-exempt, including the US,
UK and most of Europe.
Otto de Vries, CEO of Asata, said the UBC policy had been detrimental
to tourism in South Africa from both an inbound and an outbound
perspective. “We strongly advise that policies that require families
to carry UBCs are rescinded and rebuilt from the ground up. We
encourage discussions between the public and private sector 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 will be able to build a meaningful
travel culture in our country,” said Otto.
Although the Namibian ministry’s statement (which says incidences and
threats of child trafficking are on the rise), was dated April 24, PR
officer for the Namibian Ministry of Home Affairs, Sakeus Kadhikwa,
told Tourism Update that the requirement had actually been in effect
since 1993 and fell under Immigration Control Act 7, 1993. He said
the information had been released again in order to make public aware
of the ministry’s requirements and advise them in terms of regulations.
The Namibian release also states:
*Adults travelling internationally with children who are not their
biological offspring are advised to provide an affidavit giving
consent for travel from the child’s biological parents or legal guardians.
* If a child is travelling with only one parent, the other parent must
provide consent for the child to travel with the parent in question.
If one parent is deceased, a copy of a death certificate of the
deceased parent should be provided.
*An unaccompanied minor travelling to or from Namibia is also required
to produce a letter or affidavit as proof of consent to travel, from
one or both parents or legal guardians. A letter from the person who
is to receive the child, containing the residential address and
contact details where the child will be residing; a copy of the
identity document or valid passport and visa or permanent residence
permit of the person who is to receive the child; and the contact
details of the parents or legal guardians of the child must also be
provided.
An agent source has confirmed that entries in Timatic reflect the same
text regarding immigration/emigration for Namibia. V.2838

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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