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South Africa’s borders were closed in mid-March to stop the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo: Guillem Sartorio / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Two full weeks after announcing the reopening of South Africa’s borders, critical ministries are still raiding regulations, much to the chagrin of the tourism industry.
On Sunday and Monday, government ministers struggled to untangle the mess created by poor communication, ill-thought-out regulations and conflicting messages on regulations for international travelers to South Africa.
Four days after SA reopened its border to international flights, the world’s largest airline, Emirates, canceled its flight to Durban for Sunday.
Lufthansa, Germany’s largest airline, was also mulling over the suspension of its flights after some of its passengers were denied entry into Johannesburg International Airport due to confusion over updated visa rules.
South Africa’s borders were closed in mid-March to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The decision to reopen the borders was not made lightly, and President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on September 17 that South Africa would reopen its borders and ports of entry for international business and pleasure travel on Thursday, October 1, subject to a series of rules and regulations.
At first glance, some of these regulations made sense. Travelers are expected to follow local regulations, including mandatory wearing of masks in public, practicing social distancing, washing or sanitizing their hands regularly, and presenting a negative Covid-19 test result of no more than 72 hours from the time. output.
But from there, it gets more confusing.
To begin with, the Cooperative Government Department forgot to rescind the requirement that all visitors have visas. This was introduced for foreigners arriving on repatriation flights, but should have been eliminated with the resumption of regular passenger services under blocking level 1.
In addition, immigration and port health officials decided to treat aircrews as “visitors,” when they shouldn’t be classified this way at all.
“This resulted in crews having to opt for PCR [polymerase chain reaction] tests three days before each flight, just to satisfy SA regulations, ”says aviation industry expert Linden Birns.
And then there are seemingly random insurance regulations that require travelers to only enter South Africa if they are in possession of travel insurance to cover the cost of Covid-19 testing and quarantine costs.
It appears that the government has made these unilateral decisions in an attempt to pass the costs related to its testing and quarantine regulations to a third party without engaging with the insurance sellers.
The insurance industry was appalled: insurance operates on the premise of the uncertainty of an event occurring and an insurance policy of R400 (€ 20.46) will not cover mandatory government testing requirements and quarantine costs for a known event.
“It appears that the government has made these unilateral decisions in an attempt to pass the costs related to its testing and quarantine regulations to a third party without engaging with the insurance sellers,” says Jason, the head of insurance for Travel Insurance Consultants. Veitch.
“As insurers are not required to take this level of risk, the government is creating a situation where it is impossible to travel to South Africa.”
The regulation was announced hours before the takeoff of the first flights to South Africa. They were clarified at a press conference on Friday, October 2, with further adjustments on Saturday night and Sunday.
On Sunday, the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, clarified that both the crew and the passengers required a PCR certificate of no more than 72 hours and, like the passengers, the crew would be subject to controls and health protocols prescribed to their arrival.
The PCR certificate allows crew members to move freely in South Africa upon arrival, just like passengers.
Air crews that are not in possession of a negative PCR certificate can enter the country, but will not be allowed to move freely and must be quarantined at their hotel.
However, the requirements for aircrews operating same-day return flights between South Africa and other African countries remain unclear. The airlines have appealed to the Department of Tourism so that crews that come and go the same day, and that do not need to go through immigration, are exempt from the Covid-19 test certificate and the quarantine requirement.
The South African Airlines Association awaits clarification regarding Mbalula.
Also on Sunday, Interior Minister Aaron Motsoaledi restored the visa-free status of some countries. These include South Korea, Spain, Italy, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, France, Portugal, and Iran.
“The minister has instructed officials to communicate this decision to the aviation industry, embassies and other interested parties as a matter of urgency,” a statement from the department read.
Even with this clarification, Tier 1 regulations remain unnecessarily complicated, specifically around South Africa’s risk categorization model for different international travelers.
This classifies international travelers on a scale of high, medium and low risk. High-risk travelers are those who come from countries with a higher number of Covid-19 infections and reported deaths than South Africa and include the UK, the US, Iceland, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
Opening the borders is the moment we have all been waiting for, but the way the government proposes to reopen is not practical and does not allow us to do our job and contribute positively to South Africa’s revenue.
According to the Director General of the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association, David Frost, there is a “disconnect” between the announcement and Ramaphosa’s intentions, and the practical implementation of this.
“Opening the borders is the moment we were all waiting for, but the way the government proposes to reopen is impractical and does not allow us to do our job and contribute positively to South Africa’s revenue,” he says. .
According to Frost, there is no transparency in terms of the criteria used to evaluate high-risk countries, and practical implications and impediments have not been considered.
For example, while leisure travelers from high-risk countries will not be allowed entry, business travelers from the same countries with poor and critical skills will be allowed entry, including diplomats, returnees, investors and people involved in professional sporting and cultural events. , obviously subject to the controls of the health protocol.
The Executive Director of the South African Tourism Business Council, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, adds that there is no public health reason to ban travelers from any country, as long as the testing regime and protocols are followed.
Furthermore, the government’s plan to change the list of high-risk countries every two weeks is totally impractical, he says.
“Incoming international travelers need time to plan their trip. Changing the list of not prohibited countries every two weeks introduces a layer of complexity and uncertainty that will lead to erratic booking cycles and confusion among travelers. “
Zuks Ramasia, executive director of the Board of Representatives of Aerolineas de SA (Barsa), was appropriately diplomatic when she noted: “Barsa is pleased with the latest updates from the government, easing pressure as strict restrictions are lifted. The affected airlines are now in the process of restoring schedules to the benefit of our ailing economy, which needs all hands on deck. DM / BM
