Dr Leon Schreiber became Minister of Home Affairs in July 2024. In his Budget Vote speech of July 2025 he reported on his first year, and the Department set out a second-year account in a statement of 3 July 2026.
The Minister groups the reforms under a programme he calls “Home Affairs @ home”: bringing services to people digitally and through partners, rather than through queues at Home Affairs offices.
Visas
Year one. The Department cleared a backlog of over 306,000 visa applications, some dating back more than a decade. The Trusted Tour Operator Scheme, launched in February 2025, had brought visas to over 17,000 tourists travelling in groups from China and India by July. The Minister also said the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) would go live for tourist visas by the end of September 2025.
Since then. It arrived later and narrower than promised: a pilot for G20 delegates opened in October 2025, and the national launch followed on 12 August 2026, with a R500 processing fee in force from 17 August. Our article on the ETA launch and its fee covers who can use it. Two group schemes followed for film productions and international events; see how STAGES and MEETS work.
For employers, the Department opened Phase II of the Trusted Employer Scheme on 20 July 2026. The scheme simplifies work visa applications for member companies on a risk-based approach, and Phase II extends it to strategic infrastructure projects, regional and global head offices, and qualifying financial-sector entities. Expressions of interest closed on 4 September 2026.
Identity documents
Year one. Home Affairs delivered nearly 3.6 million Smart IDs, almost half a million more than its previous annual record. Naturalised citizens and permanent residents could apply for a Smart ID for the first time. Smart ID and passport services ran in about 30 bank branches as a pilot, with a target of at least 100 more that financial year.
Since then. The Department reports a record four million Smart ID cards in the 2025/26 financial year. Smart ID replacement had reached 252 bank branches by July 2026, with more than 300,000 applications processed in just over four months, and the Department aims to reach 750 branches by the end of the year. Draft regulations for a digital identity credential, held on a smartphone alongside the physical card, were published for comment in Gazette 54610 on 4 May 2026.
Borders and enforcement
Year one. Over 46,000 people were deported, the highest number in five years. Drones and body cameras raised the detection and prevention of attempted illegal border crossings by up to 215%.
Since then. The Department reports a 46% increase in lawful inland deportations, and 98 dismissals, 40 arrests and 10 convictions from its action against corruption across Home Affairs and the Border Management Authority.
South Africans abroad
In July 2025 the Department opened service centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Wellington, quoting a five-week turnaround for passports against waits of 12 to 18 months before. The network has since grown, as our piece on Home Affairs centres abroad describes.
Where this leaves visa applicants
Most of the change so far sits in short visits, group travel and identity documents. Outside the Trusted Employer Scheme, work, family, retirement and permanent residence applications still go through the standard application process, and how long a decision takes still depends on the visa and on how complete the file is.
If you are planning a longer stay, our South Africa immigration eligibility assessment identifies the visa that fits your circumstances before you apply.
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