His Excellency, President Cyril Ramaphosa,
Minister of Tourism, Ms Patricia de Lille,
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Njabulo Nzuza,
Director-General of Home Affairs, Mr Tommy Makhode,
Commissioner of the Border Management Authority, Dr Michael Masiapato,
Chairperson of the Immigration Advisory Board, Dr Mavuso Msimang,
Chief Executive Officer of Government Printing Works, Ms Alinah Fosi,
Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service, Mr Ngobani Johnstone
Makhubu,
Chief Executive Officer of South African Tourism, Mr Sechaba Motsieloa,
Acting Chief Executive Officer of Airports Company South Africa, Mr Charles
Shilowa,
Chief Executive Officer of the Board of Airline Representatives of South Africa,
Mr George Mothema,
Members of the Executive Committees of the Department of Home Affairs and the Border Management Authority,
Members of the media,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon.
Mr President, it is my singular privilege to welcome you today to deliver the keynote address on this auspicious occasion, as we launch South Africa’s Electronic Travel Authorisation platform.
This is not only because of the significance of the ETA as the flagship reform to modernise and digitally transform South Africa’s visa and immigration system.
But also because of the steadfast support you have offered to the Home Affairs ecosystem, as we toiled away over the past two years to build this system.
Thank you for being here with us today.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Just over two years ago, we set out to fundamentally reform Home Affairs through our vision to harness technology in order to deliver Home Affairs @ home.
The central idea of our reform programme, is simple:
In the digital age, you should not have to go to just a handful of physical locations and fill in paperwork to access Home Affairs services.
Instead, through the embrace of technology, our job is to bring secure Home Affairs services directly to you.
Our reform programme is anchored in three key pillars.
The first pillar is already transforming how South Africans access physical civics documents.
Through our digital partnership with the banking sector, we are undertaking a major expansion of access to Home Affairs services.
Just five months since this project went live, over 400 bank branches across the country already offer fully-digitalised Smart ID replacement services through secure integration with Home Affairs.
Over that same period, more than half a million South Africans have already used this service to replace a lost ID card or the fraud-prone Green ID Book.
They have done this without filling in any paperwork, without any prior bookings, without queues, and without any scope for fraud or manipulation.
By the end of the year, we will also add first time Smart ID applications, Passport applications, and the option for home delivery to this system.
The second pillar of our reform programme is digital identity.
This system will deliver on the pledge made by the President during the State of the Nation Address, to make digital versions of identity credentials available directly on citizens’ smartphones.
We are currently processing public comments received on draft regulations to govern the digital ID system, while we also work towards developing a prototype.
The third pillar is the one we are here to launch today, which is set to revolutionise mobility and migration management in South Africa.
Today’s launch of the ETA represents a quantum leap forward for our country’s immigration system, both by unlocking economic growth through tourism, investment and legitimate travel, and by landing a decisive blow against visa fraud and illegal immigration.
Mr President, allow me to briefly introduce some of the ETA’s key features on both the economic and security fronts.
The process begins with a traveller registering a profile on the website eta.dha.gov.za, which includes One-Time Pin verification of their cell phone number and email address.
The traveller then scans their passport and uploads a selfie.
Through biometric technology, our platform compares their passport photo to their facial photograph, confirming that they are the same person.
The algorithm also automatically scans their passport, checking over forty different parameters to verify that it is authentic.
Once payment has been made, the ETA uses automated risk analysis to identify indicators of fraud or risk at a speed and scale that no human being could possibly achieve.
If the application is approved, the traveller will receive their ETA within 24 hours, which they can then store directly in the digital wallet on their smart phone.
Once an approved traveller arrives at the immigration counter, they are again required to look into a camera, where biometric verification enables us to confirm that the person standing at our border is the same person who received authorisation to travel to our country.
To enable this functionality upon arrival, the Border Management Authority, in collaboration with the South African Revenue Service, has upgraded the Electronic Movement Control System to create what we call EMCS 2.0, at the international airports.
Unlike the BMA’s old movement control system, EMCS 2.0 is biometrically enabled to use facial verification to determine whether a traveller may enter the country, eliminating the scope for criminals to use fraudulent passports or visa papers.
In other words: the face of the traveller becomes the key that determines whether they may enter, rather than physical documents that can be manipulated.
This feature has also laid the foundation for us to significantly reduce immigration queues.
The dedicated ETA counters will already speed up processing.
But we now need to also link the ETA and EMCS 2.0 to eGates, which are owned by ACSA.
I would like to appreciate the collaboration that has started between ACSA, the BMA, Home Affairs and SARS, and to encourage the teams to urgently accelerate the work to integrate the ETA with the eGates.
This will eliminate the need for, and fraud associated with, manual passport stamping, and enable us to use our new facial recognition capabilities to instantly process South African citizens and foreign travellers using the ETA into the country without any delays.
Additionally, the ETA provides us with the capability to detect overstayers in real-time.
When a person travelling on an ETA leaves the country, their face is again verified at the departure counter.
If someone’s face has not been recorded as exiting in time, they will receive direct communication from Home Affairs warning them that we know about them and that they are at risk of overstaying and prosecution.
If that warning is disregarded, the security features of the ETA enable immigration enforcement steps to be taken.
Importantly, none of this is hypothetical.
All of these features are live as we speak, after we initially piloted the ETA during South Africa’s historic G20 Presidency for travellers from China, India, Indonesia and Mexico.
Since that small-scale pilot began, the ETA has already processed 216 204 applications.
A few weeks ago, I came across a post on LinkedIn from one of these early adopters – an Indian entrepreneur who had recently visited South Africa for the first time.
He wrote: “Some journeys give you memories. Others give you hope. My South Africa experience began with a delightful surprise. I applied for an [ETA] and received a one-year multiple-entry visa in just eight minutes.”
He went on to say that the ETA immigration counter at Cape Town
International Airport took him less than two minutes, describing it as “perhaps the smoothest travel experience I have ever had.”
The vastly enhanced security features are just as important.
6 126 fraudulent applications have already been identified and rejected, including cases involving fraudulent passports, manipulated documents, and other indicators of fraud.
That is the future of immigration in South Africa
A system that is modern and uncompromising when it comes to security, but welcoming and efficient when it comes to the travellers and investors we must attract to generate growth and jobs.
That is why the final component we built before today’s launch, is the capability for legitimate travellers who enter South Africa for up to 90 days, to apply through the ETA to extend their stay for up to a further 90 days, as stipulated by the Immigration Act.
This feature alone is likely to significantly boost tourism revenues, as it enables lawful travellers to extend their stay without the hassle and bureaucracy of the past.
During the next phase of work, the ETA will progressively become compulsory for short stay visits from countries that require port-of-entry visas to South Africa.
At the same time, we will make it accessible on a voluntary basis to visa exempt travellers who want to use the faster ETA queue upon arrival, or who want to easily extend their stay by up to 90 days.
Over the coming weeks, we will inform the embassies of countries as they are systematically added to the ETA.
The system will initially be available for travellers who arrive at OR Tambo International Airport, Cape Town International Airport, King Shaka International Airport, and Lanseria International Airport.
With our airports fully equipped, we will turn our attention to land and sea ports over the coming months to roll out facial recognition and EMCS 2.0 at all ports of entry.
But we will also not be stopping there.
The ETA is not designed to be just a digital visa for tourists and short visits.
Our aim is to turn it into the single-entry point and central platform for an endto-end digital immigration system, where all visa categories are processed through biometric and machine learning technology.
This means that, over the coming months, we must expand the platform to also process more complex visa categories, including study visas, spousal visas, and work visas.
By the time this work is complete, South Africa will have one of the most sophisticated, efficient and secure digital visa and entry/exit systems anywhere in the world.
Mr President, the ETA is the embodiment of our commitment to the vision of turning South Africa into a world leader in smart and secure migration management and digital government.
On behalf of the entire Home Affairs ecosystem, it is my honour to welcome you as our keynote speaker to officially launch the Electronic Travel Authorisation.
Thank you.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS