South Africa international travel advice

Landscape view of South Africa

South Africa 🇿🇦

South Africa is part of Africa with main city at Cape Town. Its Developing country with a population of 56M people. The main currency is Rand. The languages spoken are Southern Sotho,Swati,Tswana,Tsonga,Venda. the Republic of South Africa is the formal name of South Africa It is adviced to High degree of caution Get useful information like travel advice, temperatures, rainfall, socket plugs, languages spoken, SIM cards, ATM, currencies, road rules and emergency numbers.
👍 Developing   🌤️ ~22.08 °C   🌧 ~59.23 mm  👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 56M people

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⚠️ Travel advice

High degree of caution

We've reviewed our travel advice for South Africa and added new information under Entry and exit conditions. We haven’t changed our level of advice - ‘Exercise a high degree of caution’ in South Africa.

issued date: November 15, 2019

Weather

🌤️ Temperature

🌧 Rainfall

General

🔌 Sockets

South Africa uses 230V, 50Hz with sockets and plugs Type C, Type D, Type M and Type N.

🌐 Languages

The languages that are typically spoken are Southern Sotho, Swati, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda

Money

💱 Currencies Used

South Africa uses the South African rand (symbol: R), code ZAR.Banknotes come in denominations of 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10 rand. Rand is subdivided into 100 cents. Coins come in denominations of 5, 2 and 1 rand and 50, 20 and 10 cents.

🏧 ATMs

Automatic teller machines are very common in South Africa. You can find them in both large & small cities, tourist areas etc.You do not need a chip & PIN card to use an ATM — your standard magnetic card will work fine.

💁‍♂️ Tipping

Expected to tip Tipping is expected in South Africa since staff depend on tips to supplement their often minimum wages.

Calling

📡 Internet

Internet speed in South Africa is on average 4.1 Mbps. WiFi coverage in South Africa is moderate. It's relatively easy to find one when needed.

📱 Phones

You can buy a SIM card for about 98.07 ZAR, which includes 1 GB of data plan. You can choose from 4 telecoms: Cell C, MTN, Telkom or Vodacom. South Africa uses GSM mobile networks GSM 900 and GSM 1800. If you don't want to buy SIM card in South Africa upon arrival, make sure to check the roaming charges with your telecom provider before your departure so there are no surprises when you return home.

📞 Calling

To call South Africa, dial +, then 27 (the country code for South Africa), then the area code (without the initial 0) and the local number. For local calls within South Africa, start with the area code (with the initial 0). In the case above area code is 10 .

Driving

🛣️ Road rules

In South Africa you drive on the left side. Most cars have manual transmission (stick). Unless otherwise posted, the speed limits for cars and motorcycles are as follows: 120 km/h (74 mph) on motorways, 120 km/h (74 mph) on expressways, 40 km/h (24 mph) in all built-up areas and 80 km/h (49 mph) on undivided highways.

🆘 Emergency

Police

112

Ambulance

112

Fire department

112

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Last updated: December 5, 2019