New SA travel laws postponed

THE implementation of several new South African travel regulations, which would impact parents’ plans to travel with their minors, has been postponed until 1 June 2015, according to Malusi Gigaba, Minister of Home Affairs.

This refers to the new laws, which state that a person traveling with a minor must be in possession of an unabridged birth certificate for that child, as well as a consent affidavit from the parent or parents of the child authorising the person to travel with the child.

The new regulations, which are aimed at tackling child abduction and trafficking, were scheduled to come into effect on Wednesday, 1 October. Passengers traveling outside of South Africa and from abroad would be required to produce the documents.

However, the regulations were met with massive outcry and concern, not only from the public, but also the tourism industry. It was suggested that the new regulations could have a negative impact on the South African tourism industry, and could also affect South Africans’ Christmas travel plans.

Another concern raised by South African parents, involved the issue of estranged parents that were no longer in contact. Without consent from both parents these children would not be able to travel into or out of South Africa, until the other parent is located, and gives consent or until a court revokes the second parent’s guardianship.

With the original deadline fast approaching it became apparent that hundreds of families would, effectively, be slapped with a travel ban on their minors; as the Department of Home Affairs was unable to timeously issue unabridged birth certificates to children born before 2013.

According to Gigaba, “The new regulations are not too onerous and parents can use their country’s equivalent of the documents while travelling.” He has also encouraged foreigners travelling to South Africa to visit the foreign offices abroad, should they be concerned about their children’s travel documents.