South Africa to stop issuing temporary passports

JOHANNESBURG

South Africans will no longer travel out of the country on temporary passports from September 1.

This follows Thursday's announcement by the Department of Home Affairs that it was discontinuing the issuance of the temporary passports.

According to the department, South Africans travelling abroad as well as to neighbouring countries are refused entry when travelling on temporary passports.

The spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs, Mr Mayihlome Tshwete, said in a media statement this had resulted in accusations and claims against the department in cases where citizens were refused entry into a particular country though they possessed a temporary passport.

“In this regard, only an Emergency Travel Certificate (ETC) will be issued to an applicant under circumstances of emergency travel purposes such as, when a passport is lost while abroad and traveling to countries that accept ETCs for purposes of assisting family members in distress or if a family member is deceased,” said Mr Tshwete.

Mr Tshwete added that a temporary passport was initially issued as an interim travel document due to longer turn-around times taken to issue a permanent tourist passport valid for ten years. He said this turn-around time has improved drastically, rendering temporary passports redundant.

“The turn-around time for a passport applied for on our live capture system takes 13 days while that applied for using the manual system is issued within 24 days,” he concluded.