Year 2025 has been a roller coaster for South Africa, tackling all ups downs the country has achieved major milestones.
Yes, South Africa has excelled in 2025 mainly in the tourism sector and achieved significant visa reforms. Their achievement also included clearing a visa backlog of over 300,000 applications and implementing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system to reduce the processing time.
Backlog Clearance
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) successfully cleared over 90% of a massive visa and permit application backlog. Which at one point in 2024, included more than 306,000 unprocessed applications, some dating back nearly a decade.
The Minister of Home Affairs – Dr. Leon Schreiber announced this significant achievement in early 2025.
Reduced Processing Times
It is another achievement, where the successful clearance of the main backlog and the introduction of digital systems have led to significantly improving the turnaround times for most visa categories.
Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) System
This is something that the SA tourism sector has achieved greatly. South Africa officially launched the ETA system in a rollout phase that began in September or October 2025.
The ETA system is fully digital. It uses machine learning and AI to automate application processing and identity verification.
It was initially piloted for G20 delegates coming from China, India, Indonesia and Mexico in the lead-up to the November 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg.
The Electronic Travel Authorisation aims to streamline entry, reduce fraud and eliminate the in-efficiencies of the previous paper-based system.
Targeted Relief
The fourth greatest achievement of South Africa was when the main visa backlogs were cleared, a temporary concession was extended until March 31, 2026 for foreign nationals with pending waiver and appeal applications.
It ensured that they maintain legal status while those specific cases are finalised. These reforms were part of a broader government digital transformation plan which aimed at boosting tourism and economic growth.