By: Natasha Archary
South Africans looking to travel will have to fork out up to R1 200 for new passports with a massive increase coming into effect from 01 November.
The Department of Home Affairs gazetted the new passport fee structure which has increased by 50%.
Since 2011 the standard South African passports have cost R400, but come 01 November this will change to R600.
What’s more is that the maxi passports which have 48 pages will now cost twice as much as it previously did from R600 to R1 200.
The department says one of the reasons for the drastic fee increases is to curb fraudulent passports from entering the market.
Lost, stolen or damaged passports will come with a hefty fee which is 100% of the initial cost, which means South Africans will be forking out twice to replace their passports.
Only the emergency travel certificates remain unchanged at R140.
Fees for documentation while outside the country will be at a cost of 100%, this includes passports which will be R1 200, and maxi documents which will cost R2 400 at SA embassies, consulates and missions.
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