Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom is making headway in the easing of visa regulations — including those on travelling with children — which were blamed for damaging a sector accounting for almost a tenth of the economy. The sector employs 1.6-million people and is seen as crucial in tackling chronic unemployment, which is at a rate of more than 50% for young people. Previous measures to lift visa requirements for Russian and Brazilian tourists have resulted in a dramatic rise in travellers from those countries, while new requirements on Indian and Chinese visitors had the opposite effect. Tough visa requirements imposed by Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba during his first stint in the job — including the requirement of unabridged birth certificates for children under the age of 18 — were strongly criticised by the travel industry. Now Gigaba is working with Hanekom to ease the situation. Discussions with home affairs "have been most encouraging", Hanekom said. The Department of Home...
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