Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you all to the Home Affairs media briefing on the implementation of the immigration amendments and regulations.

We would have preferred to present this update particularly dealing with statistics arising from implementation, at the end of the month. However, given the volume of reports and speculation in the public discourse, we thought it prudent to convene this briefing. This session should therefore assist in clarifying some of the issues raised.

You would by now be conversant with the rationale for the amendments to the immigration legislation and the new regulations. Some reports say changes to South Africa’s immigration legislation came into operation on 1 June 2015. This we need to correct.

The Immigration Amendment Acts, 2007 and 2011 and the Immigration Regulations, 2014 came into operation on 26 May 2014. This was meant to manage immigration in a manner that balances South Africa’s openness to travellers with development and security imperatives.

Only those specific requirements for travelling with children through our ports of entry took effect on 1 June 2015. These requirements, relating to travelling with children, are aimed at promoting the principle that all children must have the consent of parents when travelling into or out of the Republic.

The steps we have taken to improve how we regulate the movement of children are intended also to give effect to the Children’s Act, 2005 which sets out principles relating to the care and protection of children. Among other things, the Children’s Act demands specifically the protection of children from abduction as it prohibits this horrendous act.

Our concern has always been on promoting national security, which has a far-reaching impact on tourism as well. This I must reiterate: Our policy has never been tourism by any means possible. Even the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has noted that tourism can be manipulated for criminal activities.

In March 2014, when launching the global campaign against illegal trafficking in tourism, entitled “travel, don’t traffic”, the World Tourism Fair, UNESCO, the World Tourism Organisation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reminded the world that tourism can be a blessing for the country, for its development and economy, but it should not be a curse. Mr Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organisation, said: “Responsible tourism is not only fair but good for the industry. Unethical kills tourism industry on which it depends. It is essential to preserve the human, natural and cultural heritage of the countries visited, otherwise deplete the source of the tourism industry.”

It is in our best interest as a democratic state to work towards reducing levels of crime even in this area if our economy is to grow and if we are to succeed in building a united, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous society.

The DHA presentation on latest statistics on traveller movement will assist our analysis of arrival patterns for June 2013, June 2014 and June 2015.