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The process of determining which countries would and wouldn’t be allowed to enter our borders from overseas took a while. It’s a delicate process that involved research and monitoring of the virus in other parts of the world.

All countries on the African continent have been granted access.

We now have a ‘red list’ of the countries that are banned from travel to South Africa, unless those trying to enter meet very specific criteria.

Visa-free access to South Africa was also suspended at the start of the lockdown. It has now been reinstated for 11 countries, as announced by Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi on Sunday.

However, as Bloomberg notes, not all those with visa-free access will be granted entry, as they remain on our ‘red list’.

First, the 11 countries that can now visit visa-free:

• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• Iran
• Italy
• Portugal
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Spain
• UK
• USA

Under the current list of banned countries, these five remain on the ‘red list’:

• France
• Iran
• Portugal
• UK
• USA

Travellers will need to present a negative COVID-19 test result on arrival that’s no more than 72 hours old or face a mandatory 10-day quarantine.

All locals leaving or returning to South Africa will have to do the same.

[source:bloomberg]