Lifestyle

106 countries South Africans can travel to visa-free – with another country giving South Africa the boot

Luke Fraser

 ·30 Jul 2024

South Africa can now travel to 106 countries without a visa, with Ireland and Togo no longer allowing visa-free access.

Ireland recently announced that it would no longer allow visa-free access to South Africa after being one of only four European countries to do so.

In April 2024, reports suggested that the Irish government was considering ending visa-free travel for South Africans.

This was reportedly designed to clamp down on asylum applications, with the Irish Department of Justice stating that the Island nation received hundreds of International Protection applications from Zimbabweans and people from the Democratic Republic of Congo travelling on these passports.

Ireland confirmed the decision in July, and as of 10 July 2024, all South African citizens require a visa to travel to Ireland.

Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee said that the Dublin Visa Office will establish a dedicated ‘South Africa desk’ to process applications from South African nationals.

A single-entry visa costs R1,200, while a multi-entry visa costs R2,000. If the application is refused, no refunds will be paid.

Although BusinessTech has previously reported on Ireland’s decision to end visa-free travel for South Africans, the latest official update of the Henley Passport Index also shows that South Africans will not need a visa to enter Togo.

Togo is a West African nation of over 8 million people that borders Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso.

As one of the poorest countries in the world, Togo’s GDP totalled only $8 billion (R147 billion in 2022, meaning that every citizen only got $942 (R17,000)per year

The latest cuts mean that South Africans can travel to 106 countries visa-free.

120 countries across the world require South Africans to have a visa.

Despite fewer countries allowing visa-free access, South Africa actually climbed the Henley Passport Index from 52nd at the start of the year to 47th overall.

Singapore still has the strongest passport in the world, allowing visa-free access to 195 countries.

On the other end of the scale, citizens of Afghanistan can only enter 26 countries without a visa.

Rank	Country	Access
1	Singapore	195
2	France	192
2	Germany	192
2	Italy	192
2	Japan	192
2	Spain	192
3	Finland	191
3	Austria	191
3	Ireland	191
3	Luxembourg	191
3	Netherlands	191
3	South Korea	191
3	Sweden	191
45	Russia	116
45	Turkey	116
46	Qatar	107
47	South Africa	106
48	Belize	102
49	Kuwait	99
102	Syria	28
103	Afghanistan	26

The 106 countries that South Africans can visit without a visa can be found below (Note: *visa on arrival, **eTA):

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Africa

Angola	Kenya	Seychelles*
Benin	Lesotho	Sierra Leone*
Botswana	Madagascar*	Somalia*
Burundi*	Malawi	St. Helena*
Cape Verde Islands*	Mauritania*	Tanzania
Comoro Islands*	Mauritius	The Gambia
eSwatini	Mozambique	Tunisia
Ethiopia*	Namibia	Uganda*
Gabon	Nigeria*	Zambia
Ghana*	Reunion	Zimbabwe
Guinea-Bissau*	Rwanda*
Djibouti *	Senegal

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Americas 

Argentina	Ecuador	Nicaragua
Belize	El Salvador	Panama
Bolivia*	Falkland Islands	Paraguay
Brazil	Guatemala	Peru
Chile	Guyana	Uruguay
Costa Rica	Honduras	Venezuela

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Asia

Cambodia*	Malaysia	Sri Lanka*
Hong Kong (SAR China)	Maldives*	Tajikistan*
Indonesia	Nepal*	Thailand
Kyrgyzstan*	Pakistan*	Timor-Leste*
Laos*	Philippines	South Korea **
Macao (SAR China)	Singapore

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Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda	Dominican Republic	St. Lucia
Bahamas	Grenada	St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Barbados	Haiti	Trinidad and Tobago
British Virgin Islands	Jamaica	Turks and Caicos
Cayman Islands	Montserrat
Dominica	St. Kitts and Nevis

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Europe

Georgia

Russian Federation

Kosovo

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Middle East 

Armenia*	Jordan*	Qatar
Iran*	Oman	Saudi Arabia*
Israel	Palestinian Territories

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Oceania 

Cook Islands	Micronesia	Samoa*
Fiji	Niue	Tuvalu*
Kiribati	Palau Islands*	Vanuatu
Marshall Islands*

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