{"id":847903,"date":"2026-01-15T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=847903"},"modified":"2026-01-15T17:02:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T15:02:29","slug":"south-africans-can-now-visit-101-countries-in-2026-losing-access-to-5-destinations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/847903\/south-africans-can-now-visit-101-countries-in-2026-losing-access-to-5-destinations\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africans can now visit 101 countries visa-free in 2026 \u2013 losing access to 5 destinations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans can travel to 101 countries without needing a visa in 2026, marking a decline in global mobility compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, South African passport holders enjoyed visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 106 destinations, meaning access to five countries has been lost over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Henley Passport Index is widely regarded as the most authoritative global ranking of passport strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It assesses 199 passports against 227 travel destinations worldwide, measuring how freely citizens can move across borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A destination scores a value of one if a traveller does not require a visa in advance, including cases where a visa on arrival, a visitor\u2019s permit, or an electronic travel authority is issued at entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a traveller must apply for a visa or receive government-approved clearance before departure, that destination scores zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A passport\u2019s overall score is simply the total number of destinations that receive a score of one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The index is built using exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), which is then rigorously verified by Henley & Partners\u2019 research team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each passport is continuously cross-checked against all possible destinations using government sources and major news outlets, allowing the rankings to reflect ongoing changes in visa policies throughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2026 rankings, South Africa\u2019s passport is placed 48th globally, positioning it between Qatar and Belize. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this places South Africa solidly in the middle of the global rankings, it remains far behind the world\u2019s strongest passports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singapore once again tops the index, offering its citizens visa-free access to 192 destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drop in South Africa\u2019s score is the result of losing visa-free access to five countries since last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include Mauritania and Nigeria in Africa, Pakistan in Asia, Kosovo in Europe, and Palestine in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visa-free countries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite this decline, South Africans still enjoy relatively broad access, particularly across Africa, South America, and parts of Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popular leisure destinations such as Mauritius, Thailand, and Brazil remain visa-free, making them attractive options for holidaymakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several important business and transit hubs, including Singapore, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, also continue to allow South Africans to enter without a visa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One notable inclusion on the visa-free list is Israel. This remains the case despite South Africa\u2019s decision in 2024 to bring a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the countries to which South Africans have visa-free access are listed below, with those lost over the past year in bold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Country<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Angola<\/td><\/tr>
Benin<\/td><\/tr>
Botswana<\/td><\/tr>
Burundi<\/td><\/tr>
Cape Verde Islands<\/td><\/tr>
Comoro Islands<\/td><\/tr>
Djibouti<\/td><\/tr>
Ethiopia<\/td><\/tr>
eSwatini<\/td><\/tr>
Gabon<\/td><\/tr>
Ghana<\/td><\/tr>
Guinea-Bissau<\/td><\/tr>
Kenya<\/td><\/tr>
Lesotho<\/td><\/tr>
Madagascar<\/td><\/tr>
Malawi<\/td><\/tr>
Mauritania<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Mauritius<\/td><\/tr>
Mozambique<\/td><\/tr>
Namibia<\/td><\/tr>
Nigeria<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Reunion<\/td><\/tr>
Rwanda<\/td><\/tr>
Senegal<\/td><\/tr>
Seychelles<\/td><\/tr>
Sierra Leone<\/td><\/tr>
Somalia<\/td><\/tr>
Tanzania<\/td><\/tr>
The Gambia<\/td><\/tr>
Tunisia<\/td><\/tr>
Zambia<\/td><\/tr>
Zimbabwe<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Americas <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Country<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Argentina<\/td><\/tr>
Belize<\/td><\/tr>
Bolivia*<\/td><\/tr>
Brazil<\/td><\/tr>
Chile<\/td><\/tr>
Costa Rica<\/td><\/tr>
Ecuador<\/td><\/tr>
El Salvador<\/td><\/tr>
Falkland Islands<\/td><\/tr>
Guatemala<\/td><\/tr>
Guyana<\/td><\/tr>
Honduras<\/td><\/tr>
Nicaragua<\/td><\/tr>
Panama<\/td><\/tr>
Paraguay<\/td><\/tr>
Peru<\/td><\/tr>
Uruguay<\/td><\/tr>
Venezuela<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Asia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Country<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Cambodia*<\/td><\/tr>
Hong Kong (SAR China)<\/td><\/tr>
Indonesia<\/td><\/tr>
Kyrgyzstan*<\/td><\/tr>
Laos*<\/td><\/tr>
Malaysia<\/td><\/tr>
Maldives*<\/td><\/tr>
Macao (SAR China)<\/td><\/tr>
Nepal*<\/td><\/tr>
Pakistan<\/strong>*<\/td><\/tr>
Philippines<\/td><\/tr>
Singapore<\/td><\/tr>
Sri Lanka*<\/td><\/tr>
Tajikistan*<\/td><\/tr>
Thailand<\/td><\/tr>
Timor-Leste*<\/td><\/tr>
South Korea**<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Caribbean<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Country<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Antigua and Barbuda<\/td><\/tr>
Bahamas<\/td><\/tr>
Barbados<\/td><\/tr>
British Virgin Islands<\/td><\/tr>
Cayman Islands<\/td><\/tr>
Dominica<\/td><\/tr>
Dominican Republic<\/td><\/tr>
Grenada<\/td><\/tr>
Haiti<\/td><\/tr>
Jamaica<\/td><\/tr>
Montserrat<\/td><\/tr>
St. Helena<\/td><\/tr>
St. Kitts and Nevis<\/td><\/tr>
St. Lucia<\/td><\/tr>
St. Vincent and the Grenadines<\/td><\/tr>
Trinidad and Tobago<\/td><\/tr>
Turks and Caicos<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Europe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Country<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Georgia<\/td><\/tr>
Kosovo<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Russian Federation<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Middle East <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Country<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Armenia*<\/td><\/tr>
Iran*<\/td><\/tr>
Israel<\/td><\/tr>
Jordan*<\/td><\/tr>
Oman<\/td><\/tr>
Palestine<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Qatar<\/td><\/tr>
Saudi Arabia*<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Oceania <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Country<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Cook Islands<\/td><\/tr>
Fiji<\/td><\/tr>
Kiribati<\/td><\/tr>
Marshall Islands*<\/td><\/tr>
Micronesia<\/td><\/tr>
Niue<\/td><\/tr>
Palau Islands*<\/td><\/tr>
Samoa*<\/td><\/tr>
Tuvalu*<\/td><\/tr>
Vanuatu<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Note: *visa on arrival; **eTA [electronic travel authorisation]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans can travel to 101 countries without needing a visa in 2026, marking a decline in global mobility compared to the previous year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":706115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[10004,20580,853,1837],"class_list":["post-847903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-henley-partners","tag-henley-passport-index","tag-south-africa","tag-visa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847903"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":848006,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847903\/revisions\/848006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}