poupre

I'm due to leave in 5 days, so I need to figure out pretty quick how the new restrictions will affect tourism to Kruger.

"There will be no limits on transit or commercial travel"

Is transiting through JNB, but on a separate PNR included in transit? Are Airlink flights automatically commercial travel?

Going to be hard to get a definitive answer in the next few days

hanglevst

Just flew mub-jnb-doh-lax. Not restrictions other than showing negative test results.

cheltzel

Best of luck. I hope everything works out for you.

dave_261

New restrictions in SA go in place tomorrow. A bit of confusion about what, if any, transit restrictions will be implemented.

acucobol

I am heading over on 15th July to visit the Kruger and hopefully the level 4 restrictions are not carried over beyond the 11th July.

My interpretation is -
If I fly to JNB and pick up a hire car to drive to the Kruger, then I am in breach as no leisure travel is permitted to or from Gauteng. Driving would require crossing the provincial border from Gauteng to Mpumalanga or Limpopo.

However, transit through airports is allowed.
If I fly to JNB and then onto Nelspruit and pick up a hire car there, then I am not in breach as Nelspruit is in Mpumalanga and there is no restrictions on travel to or from that province. Similarly, flying to Hoedspruit as that is in Limpopo.

Your and others interpretation may differ.

Official rules now published


https://www.gov.za/sites/default/fil...EY2BzjhhmB-hIo

Regs say ‘transiting through Gauteng’ is allowed no distinction made between air travel and road travel.

https://www.tourismupdate.co.za/arti...-4-regulations

Therefore, to prevent the spread of infections, Gauteng residents have been restricted from travelling. However, travellers from other provinces in SA, from the rest of Africa and internationally, may still transit through Gauteng and through OR Tambo International Airport,” said Tshivhengwa.

“As far as this is concerned, should they need to stay in a hotel or any other formal accommodation facility while in transit, this will be permitted,” he clarified, adding that it was advisable for travellers to carry their itinerary as well as their air ticket and possible booking details for their visit in another province along with them.

Lovethecabin

For what it is worth, I just heard from our safari operator. Because we are travel through Johannesburg, not touring, we are allowed to stop over on the way to Maun.

hoseks

Does this include an overnight stopover in Joburg?

Lovethecabin

Yes it does but we (by prior choice) are not leaving the hotel. The operator says since we have no touring plans, we are considered transit.

hoseks

This is very helpful. We had no plans to tour either, but because we arrive late into JNB there were no outbound flight options to CPT. We are booked for the night near the airport. I wonder how they'll allow us to be processed the next morning. I'm hopeful the gazette guidance will be updated to be clear about overnights. Fingers crossed!

jeffers

Due to fly into CPT for 8 days on July 21.

Fingers crossed these restrictions don't carry over past July 11. Sure cutting it close though. :/

dave_261

We're due to land on July 11! Lots of debate now on what to do... 9 nights safari/3 in CPT. Per our safari company, other than no alcohol, rest of the lodge time would be more or less the same (perhaps with a bit more spacing for dinner guests). If numbers hold flat (or, fingers crossed, begin to decline), we're hopeful the restrictions might be modified a bit... or at the very least, not get more strict.

Going to CPT might still be at risk if the lockdowns hold, since so much would be closed or unavailable, so in that scenario we might try to get flights home after the safari.

As a back-up, we're exploring moving everything over to Tanzania, which seems crazy to plan in a week!

jeffers

Good luck with everything...you got unlucky with the dates there.

I will be keeping an eye on cases with a view to Level 3 coming back after July 11.

jeffers

We're now erring on the side of no with this. Many people seem of the opinion that the restrictions will extend past July 11.

hoseks

We are going to brave it. Everyone on the ground in SA has told us not to cancel, and we are willing to work around the restrictions. Fingers crossed it all works out! I just can't stomach cancelling 2 years in a row.

japanangka

I am planning to arrive in JNB on 9 July at 5.45p (via Newark) and am unable to find a flight to Botswana until the next morning. I'm glad to hear safari operators say an overnight stay is permitted but am still nervous. If anyone can post their firsthand experiences of this, I would appreciate it.