South Africa has reinstated transit visa requirements for Bangladeshi and Pakistani ordinary passport holders.
Announcing the development on Thursday, South Africa Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi said: “Today I wish to announce that we have decided to withdraw the transit visa exemption and reinstate transit visa requirements for Bangladeshi and Pakistani ordinary passport holders from 1 August 2022”.
The minister added: “This means that all travellers using ordinary passports issued by Bangladesh and Pakistan authorities are required to apply for a visa when transiting through South Africa to other countries”.
Dr. Motsoaledi said the decision was informed by recent incidents wherein passengers from the two countries were caught attempting to enter South Africa illegally.
Several foreign nationals from Bangladesh were recently caught while trying to sneak into South Africa through fire hydrant passages at O.R Tambo International Airport.
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“In so doing, they try to evade immigration and other law enforcement officers at the port of entry, thus undermining the security and sovereignty of the State,” said the minister.
“The reintroduction of transit visas is one of the practical and strong interventions we are making in our ongoing efforts of strengthening entry requirements at our airports.
“It also underscores our resolve to stop people from undermining our systems.”
Dr. Motsoaledi said Bangladesh and Pakistani authorities have been informed of this decision through South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
“The decision has also been communicated to relevant stakeholders, including the national Department of Tourism, Heads of South African Missions, the airline industry, Tourism SA and Home Affairs officials at ports of entry, to allow for adequate preparation on the part of airlines and visa issuing offices,” said the minister.
In another related development, the minister said security measures had been taken to ensure the security and integrity of SA passports.
“In recent months the SA passport has been in the news for all the wrong reasons,” lamented Dr. Motsoaledi.
“Firstly, on the 24 March 2022, in our Krugersdorp office, the nation saw us apprehending a Pakistani national and arresting him with some South African citizens and corrupt Home Affairs officials.
“All these people were working together to defraud the SA passport.
“Secondly and immediately thereafter, the story of ‘Lebogang from Bangladesh’ made headlines all over the media, including on social media.”
The brazen passport fraud angered a lot of South Africans.
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“Today, we are announcing the first of three steps to be taken by the department to secure the integrity of our passport, and make it fool-proof against fraudulent acquisition. The other two steps will be announced in due course,” said the SA home affairs minister.
In the past applicants could collect their passports from any office in the country and they could also be collected by third parties.
“We are announcing today that, unfortunately, this can no longer happen,” said Dr. Motsoaledi.
He said the following measures will have to be followed:
- A passport can only be collected strictly from the office where it was applied for.
- Only the person who applied for that passport can come and collect it by activating it through a fingerprint.
- For minor children, their parents or guardians who helped them to apply for that passport will be the only ones allowed to come and collect it and activate it using their own fingerprints.
“We must strongly warn that any passport collected using whatever method other than the ones announced today will not be activated and hence will be of no use to the holder,” said Dr. Motsoaledi.
“We are aware that this will inconvenience some frequent travellers and some busy people who might not have time but we are appealing that everybody has to be prepared to readily pay this price for the integrity of our passports.
“We also wish to advise passport holders to check passports for expiry at least once a month or for frequent travellers, every fortnight.”
The minister also dispelled “the myth” of an SA emergency passport.
“There is nothing called an emergency passport for any South African travelling to another country.
“‘The so-called emergency passport is actually a handwritten document available only to a South African who is stranded in another country.
“This document allows them to return home and when they arrive, its usefulness comes to an abrupt end.
“For any South African wishing to go to other countries, they have to apply for a passport following regular processes.
“We are, however, able to produce a passport in five to 13 days. Under certain, select circumstances, we may produce a passport within 24 hours.”
