Travellers should be given travel warnings — but SA has no such policy
As Stephen McGown is released from Mali, some want the government to do more to inform South Africans about the dangers of African destinations
The government should do more to warn South Africans about dangers when travelling‚ say security experts commenting after the recent release of Stephen McGown‚ held hostage in Mali for nearly six years. Terrorism expert Jasmine Opperman believes the government should be issuing travel warnings and advisories to South Africans travelling to countries such as Mali and Somalia, and that citizens should avoid travelling to countries where there are "high levels of insecurity" and "weak levels of governance" and should only travel there if they had specialised knowledge [of the region]. "The fundamental question you should be asking yourself is ‘do I really have to go to Mali; do I really need to go to al-Shabaab-controlled areas?" she said. Opperman said the group that held McGown hostage for nearly six years in Mali — al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb — had recently merged with other groups to form Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin, whose primary aim was to work against the peace operat...
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