Understanding South Africa's new R500 visa fee

• The proposed R500 electronic processing fee for travellers using South Africa's Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system will be implemented to cover the costs of integrating online payments into the platform.
• The introduction of the ETA and its associated fees is part of Home Affairs' digital transformation programme, aiming to improve efficiency and security for visa applications.
• The new fee structure is expected to reduce costs for travellers who currently use outsourced visa service providers, while also increasing revenue for the government.