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There is no rationale in the government’s decision on which countries can travel to South Africa under blockade level 1.
This is according to the South African Travel Agents Association (ASATA), what did he say to Rapport It doesn’t make sense that travelers from African countries are allowed, while many low risk European countries are prohibited.
These comments follow the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor announcing on Wednesday, international flights to several countries around the world would resume from October 1.
To determine which travelers can visit South Africa, the government divided countries into three risk groups based on their relationship to South Africa’s level of risk: high risk, medium risk, and low risk.
According to current regulations, pleasure trips from high-risk countries are not allowed. The exception will be business travelers with low and critical skills, including diplomats, returnees, investors, and people participating in professional sporting events.
Use of WHO criteria
During the announcement, Pandor noted that the government analyzed the WHO criteria for assessing countries’ risk when determining the white list for international travel.
According to the organization’s guidelines, countries with more than 20 active cases per 100,000 inhabitants are considered high risk.
However, South Africa’s high-risk list includes countries like Armenia, which has only had 13 active cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks.
Rapport noted that there were several other banned countries that also fell into this category, including Georgia, Guatemala, Jamaica, and the Maldives.
Meanwhile, pleasure travel from Morocco is allowed, despite the country currently having 85 active cases per 100,000.
ASATA Chief Executive Otto de Vries said the restrictions are pointless in any case as every visitor must present a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival in the country.
The Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) also requested an urgent meeting with the government to clarify its decision, as it believes that the use of the test and other protocols are sufficient to ensure that there are no risks to public health.
TBCSA CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa added that the decision to review the list every two weeks is not practical.
“People need time to plan their trips. Reviewing the list every two weeks creates a layer of complexity and uncertainty. It will also scare away foreign governments from giving their citizens the green light to travel to South Africa, ”explained Tshivhengwa.
High risk rules
The current list of high risk countries announced by Home Secretary Aaron Motsoaledi is below.
- Albania
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belgium
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Chile
- Columbia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Ecuador
- France
- Georgia
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Guiana
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Luxembourg
- Maldives
- malt
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- North macedonia
- Oman
- Palestine
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Slovakia
- Surinam
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- United emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Venezuela
Now Read: Flying Overseas Under Lock Level 1 – What You Need To Know
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