South Africa - entry restrictions and rules [merged thread]
 

A document has recently leaked on RSA social media, purportedly prepared by/for the government and proposing a possible future after this immediate lockdown - comment here, and the doc at the bottom of the page: https://citizen.co.za/business/22733...-presentation/

There would be 5 stages of restrictions which could be cycled between at different times and in different areas (bit like load-shedding). Key for foreigners is that no hotels, bars or sit-in restaurants would be allowed to open in any stage, and 'limited international travel' would only be allowed in stage 5, the loosest. There is no end date suggested for these restrictions.

It may or may not play out like this, of course.

Thanks for that ... to a certain extent! Western Cape is (was!) the last of this years vacations (in December) and have always expected that to die along with all the other trips we have planned and booked.

And apart from selfish considerations, our hearts go out to those at the various (privately owned) hotels and restaurants we use there every year, not to mention our regular private taxi driver. Will they survive into 2021? What a human and economic disaster for ZA!

Looks like it’s official now. The president just finished speaking. I didn’t see much in the speech about international tourism which makes sense because he was speaking to a domestic audience. Of course, if restaurants and hotels are closed it will make tourism difficult.

Wishing all the best to the people of South Africa during this time. Their health is much more important than my vacation.

https://citizen.co.za/news/south-afr...de-activities/

By contributing to South Africans' wages, your vacation might actually indirectly contribute to their health and wellbeing. As opposed to their government, which seems hell-bent on taking a wrecking ball to the economy, just to add insult to injury after all the damage done by the corrupt crooks and criminals who ran the show during the past decades.

South Africa has so far recorded 65 corona fatalities, but traffic accidents, crime, AIDS, other preventable and curable diseases kill tens of thousands year in and year out. If the muppets and clowns that run the show had ever given any thought to getting their priorities right, they would have been able to prevent exponentially more deaths than corona will every cause in the country.

Johan

< OMNI alert >
sadly, "damage ... during the past decades ... (in the absence of) any thought to getting their priorities right" is not unique to ZA
< / alert >

I have a prepaid trip to SA for late August.... odds aren't so great, are they :/

(Still have hope that even if plans fall through, we might still get our deposit back due to the circumstances without having to rely on travel insurance, but we'll see)

Additional details have been posted regarding the levels. It looks like tourism should be permitted at Level 1: all accommodations and restaurants are allowed to operate, and it states no limitations on air travel. Level 4 starts Friday.

https://citizen.co.za/business/busin...s-of-lockdown/

Grateful for the further update.

Level 1 still seems a long way off, but we still live in hope that our December trip may still oossibly happen ... to visit the ruins of the Western Cape’s leisure industry!

I've got a safari on deposit for late September. If it's not allowed, what are the odds of getting my money back? It's booked through Rhino Tours, well-regarded on this forum. I don't have trip cancellation insurance but that is basically irrelevant since all normal trip cancellation policies don't include pandemic coverage.

Also, three of the nights are in Botswana, does anyone know what the situation is there?

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...na/coronavirus

https://www.osac.gov/Content/Report/...1-188400978318

Useful links - thank you. I’d seen the top level and heard some of the detail but not seen all of the conditions. Something approaching normal travel feels a long way off.

Zimbabwe 2.0.

I have no idea what that means, but Zim seems to be a place to avoid anyway ...

https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_visi...onavirus-fight

the mid/late-July conference I had been planning to attend in CPT has just been converted to a virtual event

fortunately I booked our long-haul flights (SEA-LAS-LHR-JNB-LVI; JNB-SIN/HKG-SEA) with miles, and the hotel in CPT on points, but I had engaged a TA for the internal flights (VFA-CPT on KQ; CPT-ULX and HDS-JNB on SA Airlink) and various accommodations (Vic Falls, Franschhoek, Sabi Sands, Timbavati)

final payment isn't due for another three weeks, but I have to wonder how much of the supposedly nonrefundable deposit I'll be able to recoup before invoking the "cancel-for-any-reason" clause in the travel insurance policy

That should keep you busy for a few days at least. Your TA will not be 0leased to hear from you!