South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi has announced new passport fees for the first time since 2011.
In a notice seen by Pindula News, the department quoted Motsoaledi as saying there is “nothing called an emergency passport.”
Motsoaledi said the emergency travel certificate mentioned below is a document available only to South Africans stranded abroad which helps them to come back home and when they arrive, the usefulness of the document lapses.
He added that there is no emergency travel certificate for South Africans who need to travel abroad. Reads the statement:
The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has amended the fees for South African passports and travel documents in terms of section 4(1)(e) of the South African Passports and Travel Documents Act, 1994 (Act No. 4 of 1994), and in consultation with the Minister of Finance.
The amended fees, which were published in Govemment Gazette No. 47256 (attached) on 06 October 2022, come into operation on 1 November 2022.
Section 4(1)(e) of the South African Passports and Travel Documents Act, 1994, enables the Minister of Home Affairs to make regulations regarding the fees payable for the issuance of a South African Passport or Travel Document, in consultation with the Minister of Finance.
The changes to passport and travel document fees were informed by the outcome of a bench-marking exercise with other countries which found that our tariffs were up to three times lower.
The decision was also informed by the fact that production costs are much higher than what people are paying for our passports. This means the Government is heavily subsidising passport holders when such a subsidy is not realised for ordinary ID applicants.
The fees payable for the issuing of South African passports and travel documents were last adjusted in 2011. There are different fees for applications made in South Africa and those coming from abroad. The fees payable in respect of applications for a South African passport or travel document made within the Republic are as follows:
• Adult passport R600 for 32 pages (current fee R400); R1 200 for 48 pages (maxi, current fee R800)
• Child passport R600 (current fee R400)
• Official passport R600 (currently no charge)
• Diplomatic passport R600 (currently no charge)
• Document for travel purposes R600 (current fee R300)
• Crew member certificate R600 (current fee R350)
The fees payable in respect of applications for a South African passport or travel document made outside of the Republic, at Missions, Embassies or Consulates, are as follows:
• Adult passport R1 200 for 32 pages (current fee R400); R2 400 for 48 pages (maxi, current fee 8800)
• Child passport R1 200 (current fee R400)
• Emergency travel certificate R140 (current fee R140).
Motsoaledi also said South Africans who are able to travel out of the country are financially better off than ordinary citizens and they don’t need to be subsidised in the manner the government has been doing.