International travel list allowed countries

Photo: Pixabay

International travel: Tourists from over 150 countries can visit SA – here’s the list

International travel is officially back on the radar for South Africa. People from these countries can now come to SA – but not everyone is happy.

by Tom Head

01-10-2020 16:27

in News

Photo: Pixabay

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 on Thursday – 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.

International travel list revealed: Some countries won’t make the cut

DA shadow tourism minister Manny de Freitas has branded the ‘high-risk travel list’ as ridiculous. People from the USA, 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.”
“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.”
Manny de Freitas

Low-to-medium risk: Who is allowed to travel to South Africa?

We’ve focused on the countries that can send their tourists to South Africa. There are some disputed territories, islands with semi-autonomy, and locations from all across the world. Here’s who can step foot in South Africa going forward: