+50When it comes to mundane, administrative tasks like applying for a passport, South African citizens dread needing to visit a Home Affairs branch, only to get to the front of the queue to hear the old South African proverb: “The system is offline.”
There is, however a light shining at the end of the tunnel though for bank account holders of South Africa’s major banks, who can easily apply at 30 different bank branches for their passports. To apply and bypass visiting a home affairs branch – bank account holders can book an appointment online, pay online and then attend a pre-scheduled appointment at their selected branch. Once their passport is ready, it can be collected in person from the bank branch.
The Home Affairs pilot with the banks started in 2015, and the department granted the banks permission to offer a different channel for applicants to engage with the Department of Home Affairs, thus expanding its services. “Over 3.5 million South Africans have used the bank branch system for the Smart IDs and passports”, a spokesperson said.
The South African passport now ranks as the third most influential in Africa and 53rd in the world. This is based on “Henley & Partners’ Henley Passport Index ranking of all the world’s passports, according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.”
It has been reported that the time between applying and collecting your passport from the bank branch is 15 days.
More branches are set to offer their account holders this benefit soon – Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that once the programme is fully operational, it looks like 40 more bank branches are set to offer this service to their customers.
South African passport holders can now access 108 different destinations visa-free. Read more here: https://explain.co.za/2024/01/16/visa-free-destinations-for-south-african-passport-holders-increase-to-108/
