Gigaba to ease tricky child travel laws

Home Affairs minister Malusi Gigaba Picture: Bhekikhaya Mabaso/The Star

Home Affairs minister Malusi Gigaba Picture: Bhekikhaya Mabaso/The Star

Published Dec 9, 2016

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Johannesburg - Unabridged birth certificates may have left parents in a tailspin after they were implemented as child travel requirements last year, but Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba on Thursday announced the highly contentious law would be relaxed.

The simplified requirements for minors under 18 years old travelling into the country accompanied by a single parent or a guardian are expected in March after months of review.

“Where a birth certificate has been applied for and cannot be produced or be obtained at the time of travel, an official letter stating this fact can be obtained from the nearest Home Affairs office before travelling through a port of entry,” he said.

The minister also advised South African parents to apply for birth certificates when they apply for child passports as, in future, details of parents will be printed in the passports. Thus birth certificates would not be required when travelling with children.

This is in addition to the requirements for valid passports and visas, where applicable. It also applied to affidavits confirming parental consent to the child’s travel in the event that one parent is not travelling.

The update comes after a public outcry over visa requirements for children travelling into the country from visa-exempt countries.

For people from countries that did not require visas, like Britain, Home Affairs would issue a “strong travel advisory note which says ‘you are strongly advised to provide a birth certificate for this child’.”

This was because the department needed to establish the relationship between the minor travelling with the adult.

“It will then be the discretion of the immigration officer to decide whether they allow the minor and the adult on the basis that they are satisfied that they have established the relationship between the minor and the adult travelling with the child. If they are not (satisfied), they will then make a determination that they will not allow you in until you’ve provided irrefutable documentation,” Gigaba said.

The department had not started issuing the “strong advisory” as officials were waiting for the immigration advisory board to be established, “for it to gazette the proposed amendments for public comments to be considered, and once approved, to be approved by the minister to be gazetted as a final decision”.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the influx of holidaymakers, the department has deployed additional staff at OR Tambo International Airport from December 9 until January 14. The extra 92 staffers would work two shifts a day between 6am and 10am and 4pm and 8pm, which are the busiest periods.

The Star

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