South Africa

Visas

The following nationalities do not need a visa for a stay of 90 days or less: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania (90 days per 1 year), Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom (British Citizens, British Overseas Territories citizens and British Nationals (Overseas) only), United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia (90 days per 1 year) and Zimbabwe.

The following nationalities do not need a visa for a stay of 30 days or less: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Gabon, Guyana, Hong Kong (BNO passports or SAR passports), Hungary, Jordan, Lesotho, Macau, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Peru, Poland, Seychelles, South Korea, Swaziland, Thailand and Turkey.

South Africa has 10 international airports, the two major ones being Cape Town International and OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Durban International Airport is the third biggest airport. Regular Flights from and to: Blantyre, Cairo, Gaborone, Dar es Salaam, Harare, Lilongwe, Livingstone, Luanda, Lusaka, Kinshasa, Maputo, Manzini, Maun, Mauritius, Nairobi, Victoria Falls and Windhoek.

Direct flights also arrive from major European centres, including: Amsterdam, Athens, Madrid, London, Paris, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Lisbon. There are also direct flights from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, New York, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Buenos Aires, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Perth. You may also want to have a look at Discount airlines in Africa.

Note: Baggage theft at airports is common especially at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg so avoid putting valuables such as jewellery and expensive devices in your main luggage if you can and place them in your hand luggage.

By plane

By car

Should you be entering from one of the other countries in Southern Africa you might want to do so by car. South Africa operates a number of land border posts between itself and immediately neighbouring countries. The more commonly used ones are:

Safety

South Africa has a high rate of traffic accidents. It regularly ranks somewhere between 8 to 11 among the countries with the highest per-capita traffic-related death rates in the world (31.9 killed per 100,000 per year as of 2011). You should at all times exercise extreme caution when driving, especially at night in urban areas. Watch out for unsafe drivers (minibus taxis), poor lighting, cyclists (many of whom seem not to know about the “drive on the left” rule) and pedestrians (who are the cause of many accidents, especially at night). South Africans pedestrians in general tend to be rather aggressive, like pedestrians from some Southern European countries, and you must be alert for pedestrians who will step into traffic and expect you to stop or swerve for them.

Language

South Africa has 11 official languages, namely Afrikaans, Southern Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi, Northern Sotho (Sepedi), Southern Sotho (Sesotho), Tswana, Tsonga, Venda and English. Most people other than rural black Africans speak English as a second language. Only about 8% of the population speak English as a first language, almost exclusively in the white population which is ironically declining as a first language, while it is already a lingua franca among South Africans, and about 60% of the population can understand English. South African English is heavily influenced by Afrikaans.

Areas of natural beauty and botanical interest

• Table Mountain and Cape Point in the Table Mountain National Park in Cape Town.
• The Garden Route in the Western Cape Province
• Botanical Paradise Grootbos Nature Reserve
• Tsitsikamma in the Eastern Cape
• Augrabies Falls in the Northern Cape
• Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park between South Africa and Namibia
• Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park (World Heritage Site) in KwaZulu-Natal
• Drakensberg (KZN)
• Blyde River Canyon in Mpumalanga
• Robben Island (World heritage site) off Cape Town
• Cape Winelands around Stellenbosch

What to do in South Africa

• Diving
• River Rafting:The Orange River on the border to Namibia is a popular destination for rafting tours. Several tour operators launch 4-6 day trips in blow-up boats from Vioolsdrif with camping under the stars.
• Volunteering:The Rainbow Nation offers many different opportunities for volunteering and giving back, such as wildlife conservation with the Big 5, construction or social work. There are many ways to get in contact with the desired volunteer project, one of which is a comparison platform. On Volunteer World, a social startup from Germany, [23]. , for example, you can search and compare all volunteering options in South Africa.

Climate

The climate in South Africa ranges from desert and semi-desert in the north west of the country to sub-tropical on the eastern coastline. The rainy season for most of the country is in the summer, except in the Western Cape where the rains come in the winter. Rainfall in the Eastern Cape is distributed evenly throughout the year. Winter temperatures hover around zero, summers can be very hot, in excess of 35° Celsius (95°F) in some places.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The Cradle of Humankind, near Johannesburg is a must see for anyone interested in where it all started.A large collection of caves rich in hominid and advanced ape fossils.

• Robben Island just off the coast from Cape Town where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for many years.
• The Cape Floral Region in the Western Cape
• iSimangaliso Wetland Park
• Mapungubwe Kingdom, in Limpopo
• Ukhahlamba Drakensberg Park, for its landscape, biodiversity and rock art.
• Vredefort Dome, remnants of the largest and oldest meteorite impact crater.

Security

South Africa is notorious for an extraordinarily high violent crime rate (although part of this may be due to better crime reporting than most developing countries). It’s not unheard of for the police to refuse to leave their air-conditioned offices to investigate crime on the basis that “it’s too dangerous out there!” South Africa is consistently ranked at somewhere between 14 to 18 among the countries with the highest murder rates in the world (31.8 per 100,000 per year as of 2013).

However, by being vigilant and using common sense, you might have a safe and uneventful trip. The key is to know and stick to general safety precautions. Never walk around in deserted areas at night or advertise possession of money and expensive accessories.

Do not accept offers from friendly strangers. Do not wear jewellery or expensive watches. Do not wear a tummy bag with all your valuables, consider a concealed money belt worn under your shirt instead. Distribute your valuables in inside pockets and other pockets. A decoy wallet may also be worth considering. Leave passports and other valuables in a safe or other secure location. Do not carry large sums of money. Do not walk by night in deserted places. Hide that you are a tourist: conceal your camera and binoculars.

Like many developing countries, South Africa is not a good place for solo travellers to use local urban mass transport systems. Rent a car, take a taxi, or take an escorted tour.

Do not leave your valuables in plain sight when driving in your car, as “smash and grab” attacks do sometimes occur at intersections, and keep your car doors locked, and windows closed. Know where to go so that you avoid getting lost or having to read a map in public: that will minimize the risk of inadvertently signaling to strangers that you are a tourist.

If you are carrying bags, try and hook them under a table or chair leg when sitting down, this will prevent them from being snatched.

Visiting the townships is possible, but do not do it alone unless you really know where you’re going. Some townships are safe while others can be extremely dangerous. Go with an experienced guide. Some tour companies offer perfectly safe guided visits to the townships.

South Africa has very few earthquakes, cyclones, tornadoes, floods, terrorist incidents or contagious diseases (with the notable exception of HIV).

Stay legal

There are some laws that the average tourist might not be aware of.

• If you intend to do any angling (fishing), either freshwater or at the coast, you will require an angling licensefor the province you are in. These can be obtained at any Post Office and the price depends on the province but is generally under R50. Fishery and environments officials do from time to time check if anglers are in possession of a license and you can expect to be fined if you are caught fishing without a license. Also pick up a booklet from the nearest angling shop that will tell you what the size limits for each species of fish is.
• Except for specific areas, clearly indicated by notice boards, it is illegal to drive a vehicle onto any beach.
• Boat skippers need a license to pilot a craft on ALL water courses, fresh or saltwater, within South Africa.

Money

The currency of South Africa is the Rand for which the symbol, R, is conventionally placed immediately before the amount. On Forex display boards, the three letter code is usually ZAR. The Rand is divided into 100 cents (c). Notes are in denominations of R200, R100, R50, R20 and R10. Higher value notes are slightly larger in physical size than small value notes. All notes have a metallic security strip and a watermark. Note that there are two types of R5 coins in circulation. One is a silver-coloured coin while the other is silver-coloured with a copper insert. Both are legal currency.

Coins are in denominations of R5, R2, R1, 50c, 20c, 10c and 5c. Production of 2c and 1c coins was suspended in April 2002, but those still in circulation remain legal tender. All transactions are rounded down to the nearest lower 5c, so as not to require the use of 2c and 1c coins.