Key takeaways
- Mandatory from 1 July 2026 at air, land, sea and rail ports.
- Submit no more than 24 hours before you leave on the last leg into (or out of) South Africa.
- Use the SARS website, the SATMS app, the SARS MobiApp, or a Scan-to-Declare QR code.
- Each traveller needs a declaration, including infants. A parent or guardian may file for a child.
- Air or sea passengers who stay inside the transit area and do not clear immigration are excluded.
- You will not be refused entry solely for arriving without one — but expect a kiosk or an officer, and possible delay.
What changed on 1 July 2026
The South African Revenue Service moved the old paper traveller card online. The legal duty has not changed: under section 15 of the Customs and Excise Act you must declare goods and currency when you enter or leave the Republic. What is new is the channel. The South African Traveller Management System (SATMS) is now the default.
Official pages: Customs Online Traveller Declaration and the 1 July 2026 FAQs.
Who must file
Anyone crossing the border — South African citizens and residents, and foreign visitors — by air, land, sea or rail. That includes the family self-drive arriving at Cape Town International and the same family flying out of Port Elizabeth or crossing into Zimbabwe after Kruger.
Transit is the main exclusion: if you only change planes or ships and remain in the designated transit area, you do not file. The moment you enter South Africa through immigration, you do.
When to submit
| Situation | When SARS wants the declaration |
|---|---|
| Direct flight or drive into South Africa | No more than 24 hours before you depart the country you are leaving |
| Connecting journey | No more than 24 hours before the last leg that actually arrives in South Africa |
| Leaving South Africa | The same 24-hour window before you depart |
Do not file days in advance. The window is short on purpose. Put it on the same list as “download boarding pass”.
How to complete it
- Open the Traveller Management System on the SARS site, or download the SATMS app / SARS MobiApp (Apple, Google or Huawei stores).
- Confirm travel into or from South Africa.
- Select Complete Declaration. Capture passport details, travel details, a valid email address, companions, and any goods or currency that need declaring. File one declaration per person.
- Save or print the confirmation email. It includes port-specific instructions.
- On arrival: immigration first, then follow the Customs signs in that email. On departure: Customs first if you are registering goods, claiming a VAT refund, or acquitting a temporary import.
SARS also published a step-by-step video. If the system is down or you have no data, officers and self-service terminals at the port can help. Paper (form TD-01) is only for system failure, no connectivity, or a traveller who cannot reasonably file online.
What a holiday-maker actually declares
Ordinary personal effects for your own use do not need to be listed. You do need to declare goods, currency or other items that exceed the traveller allowance or that Customs must see.
| Item | What SARS currently publishes |
|---|---|
| Goods duty-free | Up to R5 000 per person without duty or VAT |
| Further goods | A further R20 000 may be allowed but can attract duty and VAT |
| Above R25 000 | Normal Customs duties and VAT |
| How often | Once per person in a 30-day period; not if you were outside South Africa for less than 48 hours. Allowances cannot be pooled between travellers. |
| Cash / instruments | Up to R100 000 in or out without prior approval; declare amounts above the legal threshold and obtain authorisation |
| Consumables (personal) | Among the published allowances: 200 cigarettes, 20 cigars, 250 g tobacco, 2 litres of wine and 1 litre of other alcoholic beverages per adult, plus small perfume limits |
Those figures come from SARS’s own FAQ and traveller-duties pages. They can change. Check the live pages before you pack anything valuable or carry large amounts of cash.
Self-drive and foreign-registered vehicles
If you enter South Africa in a car registered outside the country — Namibia, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho or further afield — that vehicle must be declared on the Traveller Management System. SARS brought vehicle declarations in from 1 June 2026, a month before the wider traveller rule. See the foreign-registered vehicle FAQs. A Europcar collected at Cape Town Airport is a South African rental and is not that process.
What Africa Awaits will and will not do
We will remind you on the client itinerary that the declaration is due in the 24 hours before each arrival and departure. We cannot submit it for you. SARS holds the person who completes the form responsible for the facts. Agencies sending clients should put the same line in their own documents.
SARS escalations: travellerescalations@sars.gov.za.
Related: family self-drive guide · how a trip is built.
FAQ
Do I need a SARS traveller declaration to enter South Africa?
Yes. From 1 July 2026 every traveller entering or leaving by air, land, sea or rail must submit an online declaration before travelling, unless they remain in the designated transit area and do not pass through immigration.
When must I submit it?
No more than 24 hours before you leave the country you are departing from. With connections, use the last leg that actually arrives in South Africa.
Will I be refused entry if I have not completed it?
No. SARS has said you will not be denied entry or departure solely for arriving without a pre-filed declaration. Officers and self-service terminals can assist. File in advance anyway — queues form at the kiosks.
Do children need their own declaration?
Yes. Each traveller, including infants, must be covered. A parent or legal guardian may complete it and is responsible for accuracy.
How much cash can I carry?
SARS states a maximum of R100 000 in or out, in foreign or local currency or bearer negotiable instruments, without prior approval. Declare anything above the legal threshold and obtain the required authorisation.
Planning a South African circuit?
We build the route. You (or your clients) still complete SATMS in the 24 hours before each border. Enquire