South Africa cautiously re-opens borders

Harare (SAnews-New Ziana) -South Africa will reopen its international borders on 1 October 2020, under Level 1 of a nationwide lockdown, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said.

President Ramaphosa made the announcement during a televised address to the nation on Wednesday evening.

While the country would move to Alert Level 1 of lockdown from midnight on Sunday, September 20, 2020, international borders would only open up in October.

“We will be allowing travel into and out of South Africa for business, leisure and other travel with effect from 1 October 2020. This is subject to various containment and mitigation measures,” said President Ramaphosa.

For international travel, the government will place restrictions for travel to and from certain countries that have high infection rates with a list of countries to be published based on the latest scientific data.

Travelers would only be able to use one of the land border posts that have remained operational during the lockdown or one of the three main airports namely King Shaka, OR Tambo or Cape Town International Airport.

On arrival, travelers would need to present a negative COVID-19 test result not older than 72 hours from time of departure.

Where a traveler had not done a COVID-19 test prior to departure, they would be required to remain in mandatory quarantine at their own cost.

All travelers would be screened on arrival and those presenting with symptoms would be required to remain in quarantine until a repeat COVID-19 test was conducted.

Travelers would also be required to install the COVID Alert South Africa mobile app.

“Countries that have used this type of app have been able to manage the Ccoronavirus pandemic quite effectively,” President Ramaphosa said.

In preparation for the re-opening of borders, South African missions abroad would open for visa applications and all long-term visas would be reinstated.
SAnews-New Ziana