What South Africans leaving the country for essential travel should know

Source: Travel Reporter, 27/05/2020

Advocate Bongani Bongo from the Home Affairs Committee shed some
light on the procedure on the Breakfast with Refilwe Moloto show on
Cape Talk. Bongo said that when the coronavirus pandemic started to
surface around the world, the department received many calls from
South Africans living abroad who wanted to return home.
“A lot of these South Africans living abroad came back home, but due
to the difficulty to travel outside our borders, they had to remain
in South Africa. They now have the opportunity to go back to their
country of work, study or join their families abroad or receive
medical treatment,” he said on the show.
He said Home Affairs will facilitate the process. He said South
Africans needs to produce proof that the country they are travelling
to have opened its borders. This also applies to connecting flights
to other countries.
He explained: “If you want to go to London via Qatar, you must
produce something that says that you will land in Qatar on your way
to London. The traveller will have to produce all these documents
before the permission is granted for them to go.”
The department said those wishing to return to the countries where
they reside should have the following:
(a) A copy of their valid South African passport
(b) A letter confirming their admissibility under the current
circumstances from the embassy or other diplomatic/consular
representative of the country they want to travel to. If returning by
road or connecting via flights, the proof submitted needs to include
permission from each transiting country.
(c) Proof of means of travel such as air or bus tickets and the
intended date of departure.
`South Africans who fall in these categories and satisfy the criteria
can send an email to Covid19travel@dha.gov.za.`
The department said an email would be sent to travellers who meet the
criteria to enable them to proceed with their travel arrangements.
People applying as a group can send one email with the supporting
documents for each member of the group.
www.samigration.com