Johannesburg, September 2025 – South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, has announced sweeping reforms to modernize the country’s passport system, aiming to restore visa-free access to key international destinations.
The announcement follows challenges since Ireland revoked visa-free entry for South Africans in 2024, a move that triggered criticism from the travel trade and highlighted weaknesses in South Africa’s passport security systems.
Closing Loopholes in Passport Security
Speaking at the 2025 TBCSA Leadership Conference, Schreiber stressed that the loss of visa exemptions stemmed from technical flaws rather than political disputes.
“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,” he said.
A key loophole in the old system was that while fingerprints and facial data were collected at Home Affairs offices, the passport photo captured in booths was not biometrically verified. This gap has now been addressed.
“The passport will not be produced if your face doesn’t match your record on the population register. This is the level of detail we need to get to if we want to solve the big problems,” Schreiber explained.
Towards a Smarter, More Secure Passport
Other measures include:
- Upgrading the population register into an “intelligent population register” capable of interfacing with government agencies and private-sector systems.
- Introducing a new e-passport embedded with a biometric chip to store both facial and fingerprint data, aligning with ICAO international standards.
- Improving interoperability to strengthen verification processes for travel, banking, and other critical services.
Schreiber said these reforms would form the foundation for renewed diplomatic negotiations to restore visa waivers.
“Insulating the passport application process and making the physical document itself more secure and more modern is what we need to do first. Then we can go and negotiate with countries around the world,” he said.
A Long Road to Visa-Free Access
The Minister cautioned that regaining lost visa-free agreements would take “focused and deliberate work” over several years, but expressed optimism that the upgrades would give foreign governments renewed confidence in South Africa’s travel documents.
Industry stakeholders welcomed the announcements, noting that a stronger passport system could significantly boost outbound travel, trade, and tourism.
