South Africas electronic travel authorisation ETA portal eta.dha.gov.za has gone live as part of the first phase of its eventual rollout to all visa-requiring countries.
The ETA platform has opened for G20 delegates from China, India, Indonesia and Mexico entering via OR Tambo and Cape Town international airports. If the system proves stable, access will be expanded to all travellers from the same four countries and then to all visa-requiring markets globally from 2026 onwards.
In the FAQs section of the website, the Department of Home Affairs states that 85 of applications are processed automatically using AI-powered risk assessment. The system aims to process all applications within 24 hours for eligible categories with notifications sent automatically upon approval or rejection.