Where can SA passport holders go on holiday without a visa?

Q. Could you please print a list for South African-passport holders showing the countries to which they can travel visa-free or where they can automatically get a visa on arrival. - Rodney Forrest

A. The Henley Passport Index is a handy tool for this, as it is a global ranking of countries according to how many places their passport holders can visit without having to apply for visas.

It is published annually by the eponymous citizenship advisory firm, whose HQ is in London.

The latest index, in April, put SA's "green mamba" at 51st globally (out of 185) with an impressive 100 visa-free destinations - this counts both countries for which one does not require a visa at all, and countries where the visa is acquired on arrival.

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Your visa-free options are wide-ranging and include such diverse places as Ireland, Malaysia, Peru, Indonesia, Israel, Paraguay, Uruguay, South Korea, Jamaica, Thailand, Hong Kong, Barbados, and Qatar.

In Africa, your options include Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mauritius and Malawi.

Places where you can obtain a visa on arrival include the Maldives, Laos, Jordan, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan, Uganda and Bolivia.

You can find the full list by visiting henleypassportindex.com/passport and entering your nationality in the search box.

It will also show you a list of the countries for which a visa is required - 126 for SA.

Interestingly, the world's "most powerful" passport is Japan's, which gives holders visa-free access to 190 destinations.