South Africa Passport Guide — DHA Travel Documents
South African passports and travel documents are issued by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) as one of its civic services. This guide sets out what the Department itself states about that mandate — the core civic duties, the documents they cover, and what its civic-services pages do not publish — so nothing is guessed. Verified against the Department of Home Affairs (dha.gov.za), October 2026. For the documents, fees and timelines, see the South Africa passport documents checklist.
Who issues it
The Department of Home Affairs is the South African authority for civil documentation, and passports sit inside its civic-services mandate. The Department puts the core duties in a short list:
“The Department’s core Civic duties are: Maintaining the National Population Register (NPR); Managing the birth, marriage and death records; Determining and granting citizenship; Issuing travel documents and passports; Issuing identity documents (ID).”
So issuing travel documents and passports is one of the Department’s five core civic duties, alongside the National Population Register, vital records, citizenship and identity documents.
What the civic services cover
The Department then states how those duties are delivered, by issuing documents to nationals and residents:
“These are achieved by issuing South African nationals and residents with documents pertaining to: Births, Marriages and Deaths; Identity Documents and Identification; Citizenship; Travel Documents and Passports.”
Passports and travel documents are therefore issued to South African nationals and residents, as part of the same civic-services family that produces birth, marriage and death records, identity documents and citizenship determinations.
How the pieces fit together
- Applied for through the Department of Home Affairs — passports are a DHA civic service
- You need identification — the Department issues identity documents (ID) as a parallel civic duty, and holding a South African ID is part of the passport route (covered in the checklist)
- Details and entitlements run through the National Population Register, which the Department maintains
The passport is one document in a set: because the Department maintains the NPR, vital records and ID, the papers you must produce for a passport draw on those registers. The documents checklist takes that to the document level.
What DHA does not publish here
The civic-services page checked states the mandate and duties, not the operational detail. It does not publish, on that page: a photo specification (no millimetre, background or head-height figure), the fees, or the processing timelines. Those are not restated here as guesses:
- For the photo requirement, see the South Africa passport photo page
- For the fees and timelines (R600 ordinary, R1200 Maxi, R600 minor; 13–18 working days), see the documents checklist
- For anything not published, confirm with the Department of Home Affairs office handling your application
60-second South Africa checklist
- ☐ Passports are issued by the Department of Home Affairs as a civic service
- ☐ Issuing travel documents and passports is one of DHA’s five core civic duties
- ☐ Documents are issued to South African nationals and residents
- ☐ The NPR, vital records, citizenship and ID are the wider civic-services family
- ☐ For the photo, fees and timelines, use the photo page and the documents checklist
Frequently asked questions
Who issues South African passports?
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA), as part of its civic services; issuing travel documents and passports is one of its five core civic duties.
What are the Department’s core civic duties?
Maintaining the National Population Register; managing birth, marriage and death records; determining and granting citizenship; issuing travel documents and passports; and issuing identity documents.
Who can be issued a South African passport or travel document?
The Department states these are achieved by issuing South African nationals and residents with documents pertaining to, among others, travel documents and passports.
Where do I find the documents I need?
The civic-services page states the mandate, not the paper list. The South Africa passport documents checklist covers the full adult and minor document list.
What photo size does South Africa require?
Not published on the civic-services page checked; see the South Africa passport photo page for the DHA photo requirement.
Are the fees and timelines published there?
No — the page checked states duties, not fees or processing times; those are covered on the documents checklist.
Source note: the Department’s five core civic duties and the statement that these are achieved by issuing nationals and residents with documents pertaining to travel documents and passports are from the Department of Home Affairs, dha.gov.za/index.php/civic-services (checked October 2026). That page publishes duties, not photo sizes, fees or timelines.
Related: the South Africa passport documents checklist, the South Africa passport photo page, the full photo size chart, and the passport photo checker.