Government faces a balancing act as it selects the countries which will be allowed to travel to and from South Africa under the new level 1 lockdown.<\/p>\n
Senior government sources have told the Sunday Times<\/a> <\/strong>that there are serious discussions about which countries to allow travel, and which to place on the high-risk list, amid concerns that barring South Africa’s closest trading partners could risk \u201cdiplomatic issues\u201d.<\/p>\n Specific discussions have centred around the country’s BRICS partners \u2014 Brazil, Russia, India and China \u2014 and whether they should gain access as a bloc.<\/p>\n This is compounded by the fact that Brazil and India have the second and third-highest global infection rates. The restrictions would also place the US and some of the major EU countries on the high-risk list.<\/p>\n Tourism minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, told the paper that South Africa is using World Health Organisation guidelines to determine which countries to allow in when international travel resumes.<\/p>\n This includes factors such as transmission patterns, national public health and social measures for controlling outbreaks in both departure and destination countries, and public health capacity.<\/p>\n The high-risk list will be reviewed every two weeks. If a banned country\u2019s infection rate declines, it will be moved off the list, she said.<\/p>\n Kubayi-Ngubane said individuals from countries considered high risk can be allowed into South Africa if they can prove they have investments here, or are coming for strategic work.<\/p>\n “If country A has been categorised as high risk, someone who has invested in South Africa and has to come and check their project, they are able to apply to the home affairs minister to say I have an investment and want to check on it.<\/p>\n “The minister can approve for that person to come, provided they produce a negative test within 72 hours of travel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Tourism<\/strong><\/p>\n The list of countries selected will also be of vital importance to South Africa’s travel industry which has been decimated during the lockdown.<\/p>\n Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, chief executive of Tourism Business Council South Africa, told\u00a0Reuters<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>that a lot will ride on the list of countries selected.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we do not allow (people from) certain countries to travel (here) there has to be a proper scientific, statistical explanation and modelling. This can become a PR nightmare,\u201d Tshivhengwa said.<\/p>\n These concerns were echoed by David Maynier, the provincial finance minister of Western Cape, who said that \u2018the devil is in the details\u2019 and that upcoming regulations will play an important part in tourism\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n The Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) said authorities should move to accommodate business and leisure travellers and remove barriers to entry such as visas and quarantine.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot afford to have requirements that deter travel,\u201d said Chris Zweigenthal, chief executive of AASA. The list of countries that will be allowed for international travel is likely to be limited when travel restarts again on 1 October.<\/p>\n