South Africa Travellers Guide: Travel Information
Money / Currency Safety advice Health Issues Visas
Weather Commuications Electricity Public Holidays
Accommodated
Camping
Kruger Park Safaris
Other parks & reserves
Day Tours
Short Tours
Self Drive
Alternative Transportation
Baz Bus
Activity Tours
Travel Guides, Books & Maps
Accommodation
Main destinations
Cape Town
Kruger Park
Johannesburg
Sun City
St Lucia
Garden Route
Durban
Pretoria
By Province
Eastern Cape
Free State
Gauteng
KwaZulu-Natal
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
Northern Cape
North West Province
Western Cape
Rand (R) = 100 cents. Notes are in denominations of R200, 100, 50, 20 and 10. Coins are in denominations of R5, 2 and 1, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents.
Credit cards are widely accepted
Travellers cheques are widely accepted.
Banks and authorised dealers can exchange cash.
Most banks are open Mon-Fri 0900-1530 and Sat 0900-1100. Autobanks are found in most towns and operate on a 24-hour basis.
US State Department
Australia foreign affairs
Canadian Consular affairs
UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Health:
Current British foreign office advice
We strongly recommend that you obtain comprehensive travel and medical insurance before travelling, including cover for medical evacuation. You should check any exclusions, and that your policy covers you for the activities you want to undertake, especially extreme adventure sports or wildlife activities. Remember that failure to declare a medical condition could render a policy invalid.
South Africa and the sub-Saharan region of Africa have a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. South Africa actively promotes an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, but given the high level of HIV/AIDS, you should seek immediate medical advice if you are sexually assaulted or otherwise injured.
Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is present in all parts of South Africa.
Malaria is prevalent in parts of Mpumalanga, Limpopo province and KwaZulu-Natal (particularly the Wetlands area around St Lucia). Before travelling to these areas, including Kruger Park, you should seek medical advice on suitable anti-malarial medication and take precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. More than three-quarters of British travellers who contracted malaria in 2005 did not take preventive measures, such as malaria prevention tablets. However, malaria can occur despite appropriate prevention, and therefore you should promptly seek medical care in the event of a fever or flu-like illness in country or in the first year following your return from travelling to a malaria risk country. Before travelling you should seek medical advice about the malaria risk in South Africa.
There are periodic outbreaks of cholera in the poor communities of rural South Africa, especially in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces. Cholera is a highly contagious disease. You are advised to maintain a high level of personal hygiene and drink only bottled water if travelling in these areas.
Measles outbreaks occur from time to time in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces.
General Travel Information
History
Climate / weather
Malaria, AIDS & Health
Safety & Welfare
Facts & Figures
Travel Insurance
South Africa
Cities
Cape Town
Johannesburg
Durban
Pretoria
Port Elizabeth
Attractions
Kruger National Park
Garden Route
St Lucia
Drakensberg
Wild Coast
Battlefields
Sun City & Pilanesberg
Provinces
Eastern Cape
Free State
Gauteng
KwaZulu-Natal
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
Northern Cape
North West province
Western Cape
For most nationaliities temporary resident permits of up to 90 days are issued on arrival in the country. You may be asked to prove onward flights or travel arrangements or proof of funds. Click on the link below or check with your nearest South African embassy for details.
South African Embassies Abroad
Travel Visa requirements
South Africa Climate
Climatic conditions generally range from Mediterranean in the western cape to temperate in the interior plateau, and subtropical in Kwa-Zulu Natal and the lowveld. A small area in the northwest has a desert climate. Most of the country has warm, sunny days and cool nights. Rainfall generally occurs during summer (November through March), although in the southwest, around Cape Town, rainfall occurs in winter (from June through August). Temperatures are influenced by variations in elevation, terrain, and ocean currents more than latitude.
Cape Town
It seldom rains in summer, and only briefly when it does. The winters are cool and wet, but the temperature hardly ever falls below 10° C. The water temperatures in the Atlantic are low.
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Johannesburg & The Highveld.
In summer, the days are not too hot and the nights pleasantly cool. In winter, the nights can be quite cold, even below zero, but during the day the sun shines and lets the temperatures rise up to 25 degrees. Rainfall is to be expected only in summer from October to March.
Otherwise the dry climate of the African interior high-plateau, the Highveld, is dominant. Johannesburg gets an annual average of between eight and ten hours of sunshine per day. The weather only gets nasty in Johannesburg when the strong winds of August blow over the Highveld and the loose sands of the mine-dumps whirl through the air and cover the city in a yellow haze of dust. In Pretoria, about 60 km north of Johannesburg, it is always two or three degrees warmer due to the lower altitude of only 1365 metres above sea-level. (Usually a difference of 100 m in elevation corresponds to 1 degree Celsius difference in temperature.)
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Durban & KwaZulu Natal The climate in the coastal areas of KwaZulu-Natal is subtropical. In summer, temperatures often rise above 30 degrees. Because of the typically high humidity, conditions get sultry. Precipitation is to be expected mainly from October to April and particularly in the summer months of December, January and February, when one can count on strong tropical thunderstorms almost daily in the afternoons. KwaZulu-Natal is the province with the most rain in South Africa. Climatological Information Durban |
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Internet is widely available in cafes, hotels & backpackers hostels
Post to urope takes 4 to 7 days, sending parcels is generally OK, but insurance may be advisable. It is relatively expensive.
Phones are plentiful, and phone cards can be obtained up to a value of R100. Public phones can receive incoming calls if you prefer friends or family to call you back, but the hpone will usually cut out after 10 minutes, then they would need to dial again.
There are mobile phone operators, roaming coverage is supported over most of the country.
Country code ++27
230 volts, 50Hz. Round, three-pin plugs are standard.
| January 1st | New Years's Day |
| March 21st | Human Rights Days |
| March/April | Good Friday |
| March 31st | Family Day |
| April 27th | Constitution (Freedom) Day |
| May 1st | Worker's Day |
| June 16th | Youth Day |
| August 9th | National Women's Day |
| September 24th | Heritage Day |
| December 16th | Day of Reconciliation |
| December 25th | Christmas Day |
| December 26th | Day of Goodwill |