Passport overhaul aims to put SA travellers back on the global map
The announcement follows South Africa’s slip from 45th to 53rd place on the latest Henley Passport Index, largely due to the loss of visa-free entry to several countries, including Ireland, Pakistan, Mauritania, Nigeria and Somalia.
Speaking at the 2025 Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) Leadership Conference, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said the overhaul will address critical security gaps and rebuild international confidence in South African passports.
"Our systems have not been modernised to secure and ensure the legitimacy of the South African passport. It’s on us. We need to work," said Schreiber, adding that outdated authentication systems had raised red flags for foreign governments.
Herman Heunes, general manager at Corporate Traveller South Africa, called the changes "a step in the right direction."
"For our SME clients, whose travel budgets leave little room for inefficiency or error, a more credible and secure passport will go a long way toward restoring confidence," he said.
Modernising identity systems
Under the reform, South Africans will receive a new e-passport embedded with a biometric chip containing facial and fingerprint data. This will align South Africa’s travel documents with global standards and help prevent duplication or identity fraud.
The country’s population register — the backbone of identity verification — is being upgraded into what Schreiber describes as an “intelligent population register.” This will enable better integration between government departments, airlines, banks and international border systems.
“The passport will not be issued if your face doesn’t match your record on the population register,” Schreiber confirmed.
Path back to visa-free travel
Schreiber cautioned that regaining lost visa exemptions will take time. "This isn’t a quick fix,” he said. “Once we’ve modernised our systems, we’ll invite other governments to assess them for themselves. Only when they are confident in the integrity of our processes can we begin negotiating the return of visa-free access."
Until then, South African travellers will continue to face long visa lead times for business destinations in Europe, North America and Australia.
The impact on business travel
For SMEs, the current environment continues to strain budgets and delay opportunities.
“We’ve had clients postpone international launches or move meetings online simply because they couldn’t get visa approval in time,” Heunes said. “The current environment forces SMEs to plan business travel more conservatively and much further in advance than before.”
Corporate Traveller advises businesses to plan, track changing embassy requirements and lean on expert support to navigate evolving visa systems.
Building for tomorrow
The passport reform forms part of a broader government effort to strengthen South Africa’s global mobility and travel infrastructure.
"International mobility is critical for our clients,” said Heunes. “Whether it’s securing funding, exploring new markets or attending trade expos, every delayed visa or slow border checkpoint has a knock-on effect. This reform gives us reason to be hopeful."
As the new systems roll out, travellers can expect safer, smarter passports — and, in time, a more trusted place in the global travel network.