UPDATE
21 November 2022
According to SARS, by November 29, the travel pass will be accessible here for completion within hours of pre-arrival or -departure: www.sars.gov.za/travellerdeclaration
This declaration will be voluntary and passengers will be able to show officers a digital copy of their completed form on their mobile devices as well.
In order to complete the declaration the following information will be needed:
Passport, travel and contact details,
Travel companion’s passport numbers (one declaration can hold the details of an entire family),
Entity/business details when travelling on a business trip,
A list of goods including currency.
The system will convert various foreign currency amounts into rands on the pass.
You will then receive and email with proof of having submitting the form and further details of what will be required at the airport on arrival.
Update
26 October 2022
SARS has since released a statement that the project, which will be piloted at King Shaka International Airport from November 1, is part of a South African Traveller Management System (SATMS) designed to modernise customs procedures.
“SARS will launch a pilot implementation of an electronic online portal for travellers to make declarations on a voluntary basis, well ahead of their arrival or departure to/from South Africa. The new system will allow travellers to pre-declare goods purchased, received, or otherwise acquired,” SARS said in a statement on Thursday, October 20.
Only days away from the 1st of November, SARS is still to advise how this program will work, and where to obtain this travel pass.
The last known update from SARS, travellers who choose not to use the online declaration portal on their mobile devices will be able to make use of self-service counters and paper forms. SARS has also said that travellers who have not submitted pre-declarations will still be allowed to enter or leave the country but then face having to make a declaration at their point of entry.
Again we wait for further information from them, with the only know clarity being that the trail will take place at King Shaka Airport and not OR Tambo. The How, What, Where still remains a mystery to the travel trade.
What do we know?
Not much actually, here is what we do thus far.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) announced the introduction of an online traveller declaration system, first at OR Tambo with effect from 01 November. To be rolled out to all other airports during the course of 2023.
“The purpose is to simplify passenger movement at South African Airports” according to SARS. In their own document SARS outlines a rather complex process rather than simplifying this. It still remains a mystery how exactly this is going to be achieved.
SARS says in its release: “The new system requires all travellers, including South African citizens and residents, children and infants, leaving or entering South Africa by air to complete and submit an online traveller declaration, as well as receive a traveller pass before they travel.” This implies that all travellers, including foreign tourists, will be subject to this process, and clarification on this point will be required.
“The new traveller declaration process is an online system that collects travel information and returns a traveller pass via email. Upon arrival in South Africa, there will be instructions at the airports that will guide and inform travellers what to do next,” says SARS’ statement.
We have however still not been supplied with the URL for the link for travellers, nor any way to address queries about the system.
The one thing that is clear is that SARS did not engage or consult with the industry, prior to release that the implementation of this system will proceed.
So we wait still and will keep all travellers updated as and when we ourselves find out more.