No visa? No problem

18 January 2017 - 09:05 By AZIZZAR MOSUPI
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A visa and passport document.
A visa and passport document.
Image: Thinkstock Images.

If you're tired of a run-of-the mill sho't left to Saxonwold shebeen, the good news is your passport can get you access to 90 countries across the world - without a visa.

The Arton Capital Passport Index 2017 said a South African passport is one of the top three in Africa.

The index gives the global ranking of the world's passports and their "power" and lists the countries that do not require visas from the passport-holder.

South Africa is ranked 45th out of 95 countries for "passport power" and is the third-best African passport, behind the Seychelles (24) and Mauritius (29).

South Africa's overall ranking has improved by one position since last year, when it was ranked 46th, but it has also dropped one position in its visa-free score of 91 countries last year.

These include Barbados, Singapore, South Korea, the Bahamas, Thailand, Hong Kong and Brazil.

In a separate index, South Africa last year ranked 54th in the world in the 2016 Visa Restrictions Index, which measures how freely citizens can travel to other countries without red tape.

Overall, the German passport is the most powerful, with a visa-free score of 157 followed by Sweden and Singapore in second place with a visa-free score of 156 each.

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