South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Dr Leon Schreiber, has described the country’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system as a “quantum leap forward” for immigration management, following its official launch by President Cyril Ramaphosa at OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday, 12 August 2026.
The ETA system combines biometric verification with automated risk analysis, intended to deliver both stronger border security and faster processing for legitimate travellers.
“Today’s launch of the ETA represents a quantum leap forward for our country’s immigration system, both by unlocking economic growth through tourism, investment and legitimate travel, and by landing a decisive blow against visa fraud and illegal immigration,” Schreiber said.
According to the Minister, the system’s automated risk analysis can identify indicators of fraud at a speed and scale no human reviewer could match. Approved travellers receive their ETA within 24 hours, which can then be stored directly in a digital wallet on their smartphone.
“Once an approved traveller arrives at the immigration counter, they are again required to look into a camera, where biometric verification enables us to confirm that the person standing at our border is the same person who received authorisation to travel to our country. In other words: the face of the traveller becomes the key that determines whether they may enter, rather than physical documents that can be manipulated,” Schreiber explained.
Some 216,204 applications have been processed since the ETA pilot began during South Africa’s G20 Presidency, covering travellers from China, India, Indonesia and Mexico. Of these, the system identified and rejected 6,126 fraudulent applications, including cases involving fraudulent passports and manipulated documents.
Schreiber said the department had also built the capability, ahead of the launch, for legitimate travellers who enter South Africa for up to 90 days to apply through the ETA to extend their stay by a further 90 days, as provided for under the Immigration Act. He said the extension feature was likely to significantly boost tourism revenue by allowing lawful travellers to extend their stay without the administrative hassle of the past.
Over the coming weeks, the Department of Home Affairs will inform the embassies of additional countries as they are systematically added to the ETA system. The system is initially available to travellers arriving at OR Tambo International Airport, Cape Town International Airport, King Shaka International Airport and Lanseria International Airport.
“With our airports fully equipped, we will turn our attention to land and seaports over the coming months to roll out facial recognition and EMCS 2.0 at all ports of entry,” Schreiber said.
Work is also under way to expand the platform to process more complex visa categories, including study visas, spousal visas and work visas.
“By the time this work is complete, South Africa will have one of the most sophisticated, efficient and secure digital visa and entry/exit systems anywhere in the world. The ETA is the embodiment of our commitment to the vision of turning South Africa into a world leader in smart and secure migration management and digital government,” Schreiber said.
Speaking at the launch, President Ramaphosa said the reform represented far more than the introduction of a new digital platform. “This is far more than the introduction of a new digital platform. It is a statement about the kind of country we are building,” he said.
