Unabridged birth certificates: Discussions exhausted

Source: Tourism Update, 23/09/2016

Draft amendments to South Africa`s immigration regulations have not
done away with the requirement for children to travel with an
unabridged birth certificate.


Earlier this month the Department of Home Affairs published draft
amendments to immigration regulations.


However, while the tourism industry had called for the scrapping of
the requirement for children under the age of 18 to travel with an
unabridged birth certificate, the requirement has not be done away
with entirely.


The new draft amendment states: "Where a parent or parents, from a
visa-exempt country, who is or are travelling with a child, such
parent or parents may be required by an immigration officer to produce
the child`s unabridged birth certificate upon admission into or
departure from the Republic…" Moreover, an immigration official may
refuse a child admission or departure from South Africa if they do not
produce the certificate on request.


David Frost, Satsa CEO, has expressed exasperation at the draft
amendments. "Once again Home Affairs treats the tourism sector with
utter contempt," he said. "We have exhausted all possible means of
reasoned dialogue and persuasion." According to Frost, one last resort
for the industry may be to consider a legal challenge. However, he
stresses that this would be a last resort.
During South Africa`s peak season, The Independent newspaper in the UK
reported that between 10 and 20 families per day were being denied
boarding to South Africa at Heathrow. The requirement has cost South
Africa billions in lost tourism revenue according to a report by Grant
Thornton.


Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa (Barsa) CEO, June
Crawford, said that, based on the draft amendments, Barsa would
continue to advise its members to ensure that travellers under the age
of 18 travelled with an unabridged birth certificate. She pointed out
that under the draft amendments, there was the possibility of an
immigration official denying entry to a minor who failed to produce
the unabridged birth certificate. Airlines would then have to carry
the costs of repatriation.


Likewise, Chris Zweigenthal, Chief Executive at the Airlines
Association of Southern Africa, said as the amendments were currently
drafted, he wouldn`t advise travellers not to carry the unabridged
birth certificate as they risked being refused entry. He said his
personal interpretation of this draft amendment was that there was no
change and it was business as usual.


Zweigenthal emphasised that the regulations remained unchanged and
that the draft amendments had not been implemented.