SA climbs latest Henley Passport Index

The index includes an authoritative global ranking on the power of the passports of different countries.

The latest index shows that the ranking of South Africa’s “green mamba” passport increased by 10% between 2024 and 2025.

As a result of the increase in the relative strength of the passport, South Africa has broken into the top-50 in the world for the first time in a decade, improving from 53rd in the world in 2024 to 48th at the beginning of 2025.

Schreiber says the latest Henley Passport Index emphasises the global shift towards digitalising visa processes, a critical component for the country's reforms.

"The relative improvement in the strength of the South African passport is only the beginning, as it coincides with the reform process that is underway at Home Affairs, which is built around the digital transformation of all Home Affairs processes. 

“By fully digitalising and closing off to fraud and manipulation the process to obtain enabling documents – including passports – we will significantly enhance the integrity of our documents.

"Additionally, the targets proposed by Home Affairs for inclusion in the Medium-Term Development Plan that will guide the work of the seventh administration, includes the introduction of biometric or ‘ePassports,’ that feature an embedded microprocessor chip to authenticate the biometric information of all South African travellers.

"Our plans to introduce an e-Passport and to digitally secure both document and passport processes for South Africans as well as visa processes for foreigners, will combine to meaningfully increase the power of our passport over the coming years.”

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