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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 Source: The Henley Passport Index The 106 countries that South Africans can visit without a visa can be found below (Note: *visa on arrival, **eTA):
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
Americas
Argentina Ecuador Nicaragua Belize El Salvador Panama Bolivia* Falkland Islands Paraguay Brazil Guatemala Peru Chile Guyana Uruguay Costa Rica Honduras Venezuela
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
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
Europe
Georgia Russian Federation Kosovo
Middle East
Armenia* Jordan* Qatar Iran* Oman Saudi Arabia* Israel Palestinian Territories
Oceania
Cook Islands Micronesia Samoa* Fiji Niue Tuvalu* Kiribati Palau Islands* Vanuatu Marshall Islands* 
South Africa visa-free countries in Blue (Source: Henley and Partners)
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