South Africa’s richest woman slams new SARS travel rules

Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka has spoken out against the South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) new requirements for citizens travelling overseas.

In a recent social media post, Wierzycka called for more clarity on the new rules and questioned their necessity.

“I am deeply uncomfortable with SARS knowing my precise travel plans ahead of time. Why?” she questioned.  “There are security issues involved for some people. I have visited 78 countries. None requires this.”

Wierzycka’s comments come after SARS introduced a mandatory online traveller declaration requirement for all travellers.

Effective 1 July, this requirement will apply to all individuals entering or leaving the country through air, land, sea, and rail ports of entry and departure.

Travellers are now required to submit their declaration electronically before travel and declare any goods, currency, or other items that are subject to customs reporting requirements.

Law firm EY explained that travellers who do not complete the declaration in advance will not automatically be denied entry or departure.

However, it said SARS strongly encourages pre-travel submission to facilitate a “smoother travel experience”.

The law firm explained that this requirement forms part of the South African Traveller Management System (SATMS).

SATMS is a digital platform designed to streamline customs declarations and improve border management. 

“It supports SARS’ broader digital customs strategy and aims to strengthen data integration, customs compliance, and risk management at South African ports of entry and exit,” it said.

South African travellers can submit their declaration through the SARS Customs Online Traveller Declaration portal, the SATMS mobile application, and other approved SARS channels.

The declaration must be completed no more than 24 hours before the journey begins.

SARS has touted this move as a way to eventually speed up border queues by shifting processing online, yet the rollout has drawn severe backlash.

Magda Wierzycka speaks out

Wierzycka spoke out against SARS’ new travel requirement, saying it is unclear what travellers need to declare when leaving South Africa.

“In desperation, I have taken photos of my suitcase contents with the Cape Town skyline in the background. Can we upload photos? SARS, please clarify!” she said.

This was followed by Wierzycka questioning the necessity of the new requirements, saying it could present security concerns.

The CEO said she has travelled to 78 countries and has never come across a similar requirement.

Wierzycka is not the only one to have raised concerns about SARS’ new requirement, mainly surrounding the increased administrative burden it now places on South African travellers.

Some opponents of the new requirement have pointed out that forcing millions of travellers to complete complex forms within the rigid 24-hour pre-travel window adds unnecessary administrative burden.

This is especially concerning for families and businesses, who may need to fill out multiple declarations in such a short period of time.

Critics have also raised concerns about providing the government with such granular details about their movements, claiming it could qualify as state overreach.

Another major issue concerns the infrastructure supporting the new requirement, with South Africa notoriously struggling with network outages and digital infrastructure challenges, particularly for government websites.

This concern proved justified when, on Thursday, 2 July, a day after the requirement became mandatory, SARS’s application system went offline and experienced errors.

However, there have also been some proponents of the new system, saying that the requirement marks another step in SARS’ modernisation.

Tax Consulting South Africa explained that SARS has been hard at work over the past five years, making significant progress in modernising its systems.

These modernisations have been aimed at making it easy and simple for taxpayers to transact with the taxman by providing clarity and certainty, but also enhancing its capacity to detect any non-compliance.