International travel officially back on the radar for SA
JOHANNESBURG. — The dust hasn’t even begun to settle on South Africa’s new international travel laws.
Despite opening up our borders to more than 150 other nations yesterday — including every state in Africa — there are still at least 60 countries who are not allowed to send tourists to Mzansi. The restrictions, which came into effect today, have infuriated the opposition.
DA shadow tourism minister Manny de Freitas has branded the “high-risk travel list” as ridiculous.
People from the US, UK, France, India, Russia, and Brazil will be “barred from entering South Africa” for leisure purposes. He sees flaws with the testing system, which is used so tourists can prove they haven’t got Covid-19:
“The DA is of the view that the list in its current form is utterly ridiculous. For example, tourists who have tested negative for Covid-19 and have downloaded the government’s tracing app should not be considered a health risk and be discriminated against because they happen to be of a certain nationality or traveling from a certain country,” de Freitas said.
“Government’s worrying trend of trying to grab power seems to now be playing out on an international stage with the irrational banning of certain countries to its red-list. This list does not seem based on any facts or data. As with other Covid-19 regulations and decisions, it seems that countries are arbitrarily put on this list without proper interrogation.”
Low-to-medium risk: who is allowed to travel to South Africa?
Here’s who can step foot in South Africa going forward:
Afghanistan | Algeria | America Samoa | Andorra | Angola |
Antarctica | Aruba | Australia | Azerbaijan | Bahamas |
Bangladesh | Barbados | Belarus | Belize | Benin |
Bermuda | Bhutan | Botswana | Brunei | Bulgaria |
Burkina Faso | Burundi | Cambodia | Cameroon | Canada |
Cape Verde Islands | Cayman Islands | Central African Republic | Chad | China |
Christmas Islands | Comoros Islands | Congo | Congo DR | Cook Islands |
Cuba | Cyprus | Djibouti | Dutch Antilles | East Timor |
Easter Island | Egypt | El Salvador | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea |
Estonia | Ethiopia | Falkland Islands | Fiji Islands | Finland |
French Polynesia | Gabon | Gambia | Germany | Ghana |
Greenland | Grenada | Guadeloupe | Guam | Guinea |
Guinea-Bissau | Haiti | Hong Kong | Indonesia | Italy |
Ivory Coast | Japan | Kazakhstan | Kenya | Kiribati Islands |
Kosovo | Kyrgyzstan | Laos | Latvia | Lesotho |
Liberia | Libya | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Madagascar |
Malawi | Malaysia | Mali | Martinique | Mauritania |
Mauritius | Mayotte | Micronesia | Mongolia | Montserrat |
Morocco | Mozambique | Myanmar | Namibia | Nauru |
New Caledonia | New Zealand | Nicaragua | Niger | Nigeria |
Niue | Norway | Pakistan | Papua New Guinea | Philippines |
Pitcairn Island | Poland | Reunion Island | Rwanda | Samoa |
Sao Tome | Saudi Arabia | Senegal | Serbia | Sierra Leone |
Singapore | Solomon Islands | Somalia | South Korea | South Sudan |
Spain | Sri Lanka | St. Helena | St. Kitts & Nevis | St. Lucia |
St. Vincent & Gren | Sudan | Swaziland / eSwatini | Sweden | Syria |
Taiwan | Tajikistan | Tanzania | Thailand | Togo |
Tokelau Islands | Tonga | Tunisia | Turkey | Turkmenistan |
Tuvalu | Uganda | Uruguay | Uzbekistan | Vanuatu |
Vietnam | Wallis & Futuna | Western Sahara | Yemen | Zambia |
Zimbabwe |
* – This list will be reviewed every two weeks. — The South African.
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