Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi briefed the media on the changes the Home Affairs have put in place for travelers in means to securing the integrity of passports in South Africa.
The Minister addressed the issue of passport collection and the changes surrounding that department. He stated that passports will no longer allow a third person to collect the passport for the traveler as previous instances. Travelers who applied for the passport will have to collect the document themselves. He also mentioned that the privilege of being allowed to collect your passport at a different department from where you applied for has been taken. You will now have to fetch your documents where you applied for it.
“We are announcing today that unfortunately this cannot happen and the following measures will be followed: A passport can only be collected strictly from the office where it was applied for. If you decide to apply for a passport in a particular office, know that you are going to be forced to go back to the same office to collect it” he said.
The passport applicants will also be required to activate their passports before collection. This will allow home affairs officials to make sure that the finger print used to activate the passport belongs to the right person, as well as the information and picture on the registrar indeed belongs to the collector.
Dr. Motsoaledi advises frequent travelers to always check their expiry dates on their passports prior traveling to avoid being arrested at the airport and other complications.
“We also wish to advise passport holders to check for expiry dates at least once a month or for frequent travelers every forth night”
The minister touch-based on the reinstatement of transit Visa’s for ordinary passport holders from Bangladesh and Pakistan. He mentioned various instances that has led to the decision of requiring visas from citizens or travelers coming from these two destinations. Instances such as travelers from these destinations illegally entering South Africa by sneaking in through fire hydrants at the airport and into the country.
“Today I wish to announce that we have decided to withdraw the transit visa exemption and we are reinstating transit visa requirements for Bangladeshi and Pakistani ordinary passport holders and this started on the 1st of August 2022 …”
“This means that travelers using ordinary passports issued by Bangladesh and Pakistan authorities are required to apply for a visa when transiting through South Africa to other countries” said the minister.
