Mixed views over travel document change for children

It’s business as usual for local travel agents ahead of the deadline for the country’s new travel requirements for children, although there are different views on how the new law will impact the country.

The new rule, instituted by the Department of Home Affairs, requires an unabridged birth certificate for all children under the age of 18 travelling to, through or out of South Africa as of Monday, 1 June.

Owner of Mocarmi Travel, Michelle Lowes said the new travel requirements has impacted her business, especially where children are travelling. “Should they not hold the correct documentation, unfortunately they will not be allowed to travel,” she said.

There have been calls to delay the implementation of the new rules, for fear it will harm South Africa’s tourism industry. The Institute for Race Relations (IRR) believes the new requirements could see international tourists choose other travel destinations over South Africa – a view Michelle agrees with. “It takes a while to obtain the necessary documents and SA can no longer be sold as a hassle-free country, with no documents required.

She agrees with the IRR that it will harm South Africa’s tourism industry. “It will now cost money and time to obtain the document and the delay is very problematic due to insufficient staff at Home Affairs.

The IRR said policymakers are closing off another avenue of employment to poor and unskilled people, especially in rural areas where tourists might have travelled to, issuing visa brochures for children travelling to SA will be bad for the economy, bad for jobs, and bad for the country, and that the department should delay the implementation of the birth certificate requirement and re-draft its travel policy, which could see travellers who arrive in South Africa without the required documentation being detained or deported immediately.

Pentravel manager, Sianna Book said when the new requirements were introduced last year they initially took strain, but once the deadline was extended, it was a relief.

“Most of our clients are aware of the changes and have prepared well in advance,” she said.

“We have lost bookings, because clients didn’t have sufficient time to apply, but not as many as we initially expected.”

Sianna doesn’t see it affecting inbound tourists travelling into South Africa. “If we look at travelling to Italy for instance, a South African passport holder required an unabridged birth certificate before this new law came into place, yet people still travelled to Italy.

I don’t think it will harm South Africa’s tourism industry, as most travellers either already have unabridged birth certificates or are happy to apply for one. We have not yet had a case where someone has decided not to travel at all as a direct result of the new law.”

Vice-chairman of Sapphire Coast Toti Tourism, Kim McCarthy does not see the new law affecting tourism in Toti.

“The tourism industry within the Sapphire Coast is largely corporate all year, followed with visitors from within South Africa visiting our shores over the school holidays, so for our area we don’t foresee a slowdown,” she said.

“As a tourism product owner myself, I believe it’s wonderful that our government is taking this initiative to implement a cautionary measure that will contribute to foiling acts of heinous crimes against our orphans. These little voiceless humans are being herded in their droves to fight wars through induced drug addiction and endure horrific sexual abuse.

While initially there will be some pain in applying for an unabridged birth certificate for our children, it will all even out eventually, like applying for an Identity Book.

On a lighter note, perhaps this move will also encourage local families to explore more within our own shores, spending money locally instead of outside the country.”