(SOUTH AFRICA) — Minister of Home Affairs Dr. Leon Schreiber unveiled South Africa’s Electronic Travel Authorisation on 18 September 2025, launching a digital visa reform that the government says will speed up entry, cut paperwork and support tourism growth.

Schreiber presented the system at the Tourism Business Council of South Africa’s Leadership Conference as part of the government’s Home Affairs @ Home digitalisation drive. The platform lets eligible travellers apply online, submit biometrics and receive real-time approvals linked to their passports.

South Africa built the system around machine learning, biometric capture and an upgraded Electronic Movement Control System, or EMCS 2.0, with facial recognition at ports of entry. The design ties the visa decision process to arrival screening, rather than treating them as separate steps.

The rollout began in phases. The first phase was scheduled for mid-October 2025 and covered G20 delegates from China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico arriving at OR Tambo International Airport or Cape Town International Airport.

A second phase was set to start after the November 2025 G20 Leaders’ Summit. That stage expanded access to tourists from the same four countries.

Government plans went further than that initial launch. Once the system is stable, the ETA is intended to become the entry point for tourist visas from all visa-required countries, with later expansion to other visa categories and more ports of entry.

By February 2026, nationals of Mainland China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico holding ordinary passports were eligible to apply online for an ETA or eVisa for business or tourism. Authorities said the rollout was continuing in phases.

The application process runs through an online sequence. Applicants create an account, register a profile, capture biometrics, upload passport details, complete the application, pay the fee and submit it for an instant outcome.

That process marks a sharp change from paper-heavy visa systems that often separate application review from border checks. Here, the traveller’s approval is linked directly to the passport used for travel.

Operating rules remain narrow. The ETA is designed for tourism and visitor purposes, not work.

It allows multiple entries during its validity and remains valid for up to 90 days, with the possibility of one 90-day extension. The passport link means the authorisation travels with the document rather than as a stand-alone paper endorsement.

Initial airport use centered on OR Tambo International and Cape Town International, the two gateways named in the first phase. Authorities said they planned later expansion to other ports of entry as the system widened.

Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille gave the clearest public measure of early performance in June 2026. She said the ETA had already shown a 94% approval rate for completed applications and that travellers were being processed at airports in under 60 seconds through dedicated ETA lanes.

Those figures suggest the government is testing the system on speed as much as on access. Fast approvals mean little if airport processing stalls on arrival, and fast airport lanes mean less if applications remain slow or uncertain before departure.

South Africa’s model tries to handle both. Machine learning supports application review, biometric capture forms part of the submission process, and facial recognition through EMCS 2.0 supports checks at the border.

Schreiber’s launch framed the project as part of a larger administrative shift inside Home Affairs. The Home Affairs @ Home drive places digital processing at the center of services that previously depended on in-person steps and manual review.

The choice of the first four markets also tied the ETA to a specific diplomatic and tourism calendar. China, India, Indonesia and Mexico were included first for G20 delegates before the system opened more broadly to tourists from those same countries.

That sequencing gave officials a limited pool of initial users at two major airports before broader tourist demand arrived. It also put the system under pressure early, since international arrivals tied to a leaders’ summit leave little room for delays at the border.

By June 2026, the government was already pointing to airport lane performance as evidence that the model could handle live traffic. Processing in under 60 seconds at dedicated ETA lanes indicates that the digital authorisation was not confined to online approvals but had been integrated into arrival procedures.

Eligibility still depends on nationality and travel purpose. As of February 2026, ordinary passport holders from Mainland China, India, Indonesia, and Mexico could apply online, and the product covered business or tourism through the ETA or eVisa channel.

The ETA itself remains a visitor document. South Africa’s rules do not allow its use for work, a boundary that keeps the system focused on short-term travel rather than employment-based entry.

Multiple-entry validity gives travellers more flexibility than a single-use authorisation, especially on regional itineraries that involve leaving and re-entering the country. The 90-day validity period, with one further 90-day extension possible, places it within the range of a conventional short-stay visitor document while keeping the process fully digital.

Officials have also signaled that the current airport footprint is not the final one. The first operating phase named OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town International Airport, but the plan calls for eventual expansion to other ports of entry as the system matures.

The same applies to the traveller pool. South Africa introduced the system with a narrow group, then widened access to tourists from those countries, with the longer-term aim of making the ETA the standard entry route for tourist visas from all visa-required countries.

That makes the project both a tourism tool and a border management reform. It promises faster applications, links approvals to passports, uses biometric and facial recognition systems on arrival and, if the rollout continues as planned, shifts more of South Africa’s visitor visa process onto a digital platform built for speed at both the application stage and the airport gate.