The SA passport fell to 86th. Here is every country you can still visit without a visa

Seven places in one year.

That is how far the South African passport fell in the newest ranking from Passport Reports. It now sits 86th out of 199. In 2025 it was 79th.

The news spread fast this week. One post about it passed 154,000 views, and most replies said the same thing: Blame Home Affairs.

So is the green passport really getting weaker? And why does another index say it is 53rd?

How strong is the South African passport?

Passport Reports gives every passport a Mobility Score. It counts the places you can enter without getting a visa first.

South Africa scores 108, down from 110 last year. That is 54.5% of the 198 places on its list.

30%21%45%

Visa-free	59.00	30%
Visa on arrival	42.00	21%
Online travel pass (ETA)	7.00	4%
Visa needed before you go	90.00	45%
Countries	198.00	100%

Mobility Score 108 = visa-free + visa on arrival + ETA. Source: Passport Reports, South Africa page, last update 20 September 2026.

In its groups, South Africa is 3rd of 54 in Africa, 4th of 11 in BRICS and 15th of 19 in the G20.

The score has been stuck for years. It was 112 in 2023, then 110, then 110 again, and now 108.

Photo: Mrllamax / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Is the South African passport 86th or 53rd?

The 53rd comes from the Henley Passport Index, the best-known ranking. But it is old. Henley put South Africa 53rd in October 2025. Its 2026 data on its own website now has South Africa 50th, with 101 places you can enter without a visa.

So why is one index saying 50th and the other 86th? They count in different ways.

Henley lets passports with the same score share a place. Many passports tie, so its list only runs to about 105 places, even though it ranks 199 passports. Passport Reports breaks most ties, so its places run much higher.

A fairer test is to count how many passports beat ours.

Counted that way, the two indexes agree. About 95 passports in the world open more doors than ours.

Henley also counts 227 places, including islands like the Cayman Islands. Passport Reports counts 198 countries. That is why the scores are not the same.

Which countries did South Africans lose?

Passport Reports does not say which two places dropped off South Africa's list this year. It only shows the score falling from 110 to 108.

Henley does name names. In its October 2025 update, South Africans lost easy entry to Pakistan, Mauritania, Nigeria and Somalia. Reports at the time said those countries brought in new e-visa systems that replaced visa-free or visa-on-arrival entry for many passports, not only ours.

Passport Reports still lists Nigeria and Mauritania as visa on arrival. Pakistan and Somalia now need a visa before you fly.

Why do people blame Home Affairs for the passport ranking?

Because the fraud cases are real, and they keep coming.

In February 2026, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) released findings on visas and permits at Home Affairs. Acting SIU head Leonard Lekgetho said "South Africa's immigration system was treated as a commodity." He said four officials who earn less than R25,000 a month got R16.3 million in direct deposits.

The SIU also described a passport scheme it uncovered with Interpol. Officials allegedly let foreign nationals into Home Affairs offices. They used the fingerprints of real South Africans and swapped in their own photos. The SIU said some used these passports to commit crimes abroad or to seek refugee status in other countries.

In September 2026, two Home Affairs officials were arrested under a Hawks operation called Project Humulani. The NPA says foreign nationals paid R50,000 to R100,000 for a South African passport. Officials allegedly got R10,000 to R15,000 per application. South Africans who lent out their ID details allegedly got R500.

A Pakistani national already serving 14 years for related crimes appeared in court with the two officials. Several hundred passports have been blocked and cancelled. The case returns to court on 4 November. These are charges, not convictions.

This month, a former Home Affairs worker in Pietermaritzburg was convicted on 264 charges. The Hawks say he issued South African passports to foreign nationals. He is back in court on 13 November.

Photo: Nick-D / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Has fraud cost South Africans visa-free travel before?

Yes, and that is why people believe it is happening again.

In 2009, the UK made South Africans get a visa. A spokesperson for the British High Commission said South African passports were the third most abused in the world. More than 2,000 had been confiscated in one reporting period, the Mail & Guardian reported. South Africa failed the UK's visa waiver test. Namibia and Botswana passed.

In July 2024, Ireland followed. Its justice minister pointed to a significant number of asylum claims from South Africans and Batswana.

No country has said this year's drop is about fraud. But the pattern is hard to miss, and many South Africans who travel say the green passport gets more checks than it used to. You can read how state capture cases ended with so few people in jail for a sense of why trust is so low.

Which countries are visa-free for South African passport holders in 2026?

This is the full list from Passport Reports, sorted by region. Always check the embassy website before you book, because rules change.

Africa (38)

Americas and Caribbean (31)

Asia and the Middle East (22)

Europe and Central Asia (8)

Oceania (9)

Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand ask for an online arrival card before you land. Georgia lets South Africans stay up to 360 days.

What is the difference between an ETA, an e-visa and a visa on arrival?

Photo: Jon Evans / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

• ETA: A quick online travel pass you get before you fly, usually approved in minutes or days.
• E-visa: A real visa you apply for online, with forms, a fee and a wait.
• Visa on arrival: You buy the visa at the airport or border when you land, so carry the fee in cash.

Many of the visa-on-arrival countries above also offer an e-visa. Doing it online first often means a shorter queue. Many countries also want your passport valid for at least six months after you arrive.

If you are heading to Home Affairs to renew your passport, check your ID too. You will need it to vote in the local elections on 4 November.

Who has the strongest passport in Africa?

Seychelles is first in Africa on Passport Reports, with a score of 147. Mauritius is second with 140. South Africa is third. Henley has the same top three.

Out in the world, the UAE is first on Passport Reports. Henley puts Singapore on top, with 192 places.

But look at that African top three again. Seychelles and Mauritius are small islands. That makes the green passport the strongest on the African mainland, by both counts.

Ninety places still want a visa first. Another 108 do not. Kenya, Brazil, Thailand and Peru are still visa-free, and Georgia will let you stay almost a whole year. No passport on the African mainland opens more of the world than the green one.