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Tourism body may take government to court over unabridged birth certificates

Source: Cape Talk, 12/10/2016


The Southern African Tourism Services Association (Satsa) says it may
be forced to take legal action against government in order to have
strict laws around unabridged birth certificates scrapped.


Children under the age of 18 are required to carry unabridged birth
certificates when entering the country.


Satsa CEO David Frost says that they are considering all their options
and receiving legal counsel, but a court battle will be the last
resort.


According to Frost, 13 000 visitors have been turned away from South
Africa since the controversial visa regulation were introduced in
2015.


He explains that the laws for in-bound travellers have not been
relaxed, despite minor amendments made last year.


He says the requirement that visitors travelling with minors produce
unabridged birth certificates is still being enforced.


Frost claims that the Department of Home Affairs have semantically
changed the wording of their gazetted bill to read that immigration
officials may require travellers to carry unabridged birth
certificates for minors.


He advises that the regulations have had a negative effect on the
tourism industry, acting as a deterrent to foreigners wanting to visit
the country.


Beyond the unabridged birth certificates, Frost says that the overall
visa regulations have made travel process cumbersome for potential
tourists.


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