The Department of Home Affairs will scrap its controversial birth certificate rules for travellers.<\/p>\n
The regulation requires all people travelling with minors (under the age of 18) to produce an unabridged birth certificate, and a letter of parental consent if the child is not travelling with both parents, when departing from and arriving in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Speaking in a radio interview<\/a> <\/strong>with Moneyweb, Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said that unabridged birth certificates will no longer be required for overseas tourists to South Africa travelling with children.<\/p>\n “We have given the instruction that, look, it\u2019s no longer wanted. You don\u2019t have to carry it, you don\u2019t have to produce it,” he said.<\/p>\n In a separate Fin24<\/a> <\/strong>report, both the Airline Association of Southern Africa and the Tourism Business Council of SA confirmed that they had been briefed about the changes.<\/p>\n Chair of Tourism Business Council of SA, Blacky Komani, said that the change should be announced officially on 16 October, including timelines for implementation.<\/p>\n The revision to the travel regulations comes as president Cyril Ramaphosa moves to find ways to boost the local tourism industry, as part of his bid to reinvigorate South Africa’s stagnating economy.<\/p>\n Other changes in the sector include granting visa-free entry to several new countries – including New Zealand, the UAE and Saudi Arabia – as well as the introduction of a new e-visa system.<\/p>\n Billions lost<\/strong><\/p>\n The birth certificate rules were introduced<\/a> <\/strong>by home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba in 2015 under the banner of preventing instances of child trafficking.<\/p>\n However, by 2016, after many complaints and a huge knock to South Africa\u2019s tourism numbers, the department said it would rework the laws.<\/p>\n