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South Africa opens its borders to African travellers, limits 60 others – map
8:39 CAT | 02 Oct 2020
File photo GCIS
All business and leisure travellers from the rest of the African continent are allowed in South Africa from Thursday. This came out at a briefing of the National Command Council following the country moving to Alert Level One of the lockdown.
According to the statement the decision to open up the country’s borders to Africa is in a bid to facilitate the free movement of people, goods and services from South Africa, SADC and the rest of the continent.
The council also says leisure travellers from 60 countries, including the US, the United Kingdom, the UAE, India, Russia, Brazil, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy and France among others [see the full list, with map, below] will not be allowed to visit South Africa.
But business travellers with scarce and critical skills including diplomats and investors from countries considered “high-risk”, which also include the Netherlands, Israel and the Czech Republic , can enter, Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said.
“We will review the data every two weeks,” Pandor told a news conference, saying the government would be guided by epidemiological data when deciding which countries were deemed high-risk.
President Cyril Ramaphosa this month loosened pandemic restrictions in South Africa, which had one of the world’s strictest lockdowns at the height of its COVID-19 outbreak. The easing included opening up to air travel, bringing relief to the badly battered tourism industry.
“Airlines from high-risk countries are not necessarily banned, but their crew will be required to isolate … at the cost of their employer,” Pandor said.
“Travellers from all African countries are allowed and must possess relevant travel documents, and will also be screened for COVID-19 symptoms. To allow ease of travel from the African countries, 18 borders will be opened,” says Pandor.
Read more: Borders between South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe remain closed
International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor says a testing certificate will be required from all travellers from the rest of the continent.
In the video below minister announces the easing of international travel restrictions
Sea port operations
To facilitate the ease of transportation of goods and medicines to and from the country, ships will be allowed to dock, load and off-load cargo.
Crew members from the cargo ships will be allowed to crew changes. These crew members will also be medically screened for COVID-19 symptoms.
Passenger liners for luxury travel are still not allowed to dock and off-load passengers.
“We want to appeal to all travellers and tourists for cooperation and increased vigilance in observing all the health and hygiene protocols we have announced today so that we stop the spread of COVID-19. Even though we celebrate the reduced numbers of infections, there is still no vaccine to the virus. We should continue to protect ourselves and those who are close to us from the devastating effects of this pandemic. We call on international travellers to enjoy the diverse tourist attractions of this country and to meet our friendly hospitable people,” says the Minister.
Here is the full list of countries classified as high-risk
The international travel map is a fascinating read: Almost the entirety of South America has been told we are off-limits, whereas more than half of Europe is also forbidden from taking a jaunt down to South Africa. A clutch of tiny island nations – represented by red dots on the map below – also find themselves on the banned travel list:
- Albania
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Austria
- Bahrain
- Belgium
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Chile
- Columbia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Ecuador
- France
- Georgia
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Luxembourg
- Maldives
- Malta
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- North Macedonia
- Oman
- Palestine
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Slovakia
- Suriname
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- United Emirates
- United Kingdom
- USA
- Venezuela
Source: SABC / AFP / The South African
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i didn’t understand if there is a reciprocity between those countries whose inhabitants can enter South Africa. For example, could a South African citizen enter in Mozambique? I think Mozambique has its borders closed.