South Africa: embassies, consulates & entry rules
- foreign missions here
- 166
- Consulates
- 60
- missions abroad
- 139
- Visa-free / Visa on arrival
- 93
Live & travel in South Africa
Monthly budget
$1,950/mo
Prices vs USA: 43%
Exchange rate
1 USD = 16.53 ZAR
Internet access
78%
of people online
Air quality
27.7
PM2.5 (µg/m³)
Official languages
English, Zulu, Xhosa
Emergency
112
Plug types
Europlug, BS 546, IEC 60906-1
Calling code
+27
Estimate for a remote worker (rent + living) from World Bank price levels. Capitals can be higher. · US travel advisory: May 26, 2025
3.2
/ 5
embassly score
Sources: World Bank · NASA · U.S. State Dept
- Cost3.9
- Safety2.5
- Internet access3.8
- Air quality2.0
- Climate4.0
SOS · South Africa112Restaurants, cafés and dishes in South AfricaCharly's Bakery, Cape Town · Truth Coffee · Bobotie · Biltong · Malva pudding · Boerewors · Bunny chow
Government consensus
Increased caution· 2 of 3 governmentsSources: official travel advice of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Digital nomad visa
- Remote Work Visitor's Visa (s11(1)(b)(iv))Verified Nov 9, 2026Min. income: $3,300/moDuration: 36 monthsGross salary ≥ ZAR 650,796/year as printed on DHA checklist (widely cited as ZAR 650,976)Official site
Programme rules change; always confirm on the official site linked on each card.
Upcoming public holidays
- Dec 16, 2026 · Day of Reconciliation
- Dec 25, 2026 · Christmas Day
- Dec 26, 2026 · Day of Goodwill
- Jan 1, 2027 · New Year’s Day
- Mar 21, 2027 · Human Rights Day
- Mar 22, 2027 · Public Holiday
- Mar 26, 2027 · Good Friday
- Mar 29, 2027 · Family Day
Cities in South Africa
3.3 / 5South Africa
Pretoria
$1,950/mo · 24°C
3.3 / 5South Africa
Cape Town
$1,950/mo · 17°C
3.3 / 5South Africa
Johannesburg
$1,950/mo · 21°C
3.4 / 5South Africa
Durban
$1,950/mo · 22°C
3.2 / 5South Africa
Bloemfontein
$1,950/mo · 22°C
Traveller essentials · South Africa
- Emergency
- 112
- Calling code
- +27
- Currency
- ZAR
- Plug types
- Europlug, BS 546, IEC 60906-1, British and related types
- Drives on the
- left
- Capital
- Bloemfontein
- Time zone
- Africa/Johannesburg
Foreign missions in South Africa
AlgeriaPretoria1AngolaPretoria, Cape Town, Johannesburg3ArgentinaPretoria1AustraliaPretoria1AustriaPretoria, Cape Town2AzerbaijanPretoria1BangladeshPretoria1BelarusPretoria1BelgiumPretoria, Cape Town2BeninPretoria1Bosnia and HerzegovinaPretoria1BotswanaPretoria1BrazilPretoria1BulgariaPretoria1Burkina FasoPretoria1BurundiPretoria1CameroonPretoria1CanadaPretoria1Central African RepublicPretoria1ChadPretoria1ChilePretoria1ChinaPretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town4ColombiaPretoria1ComorosPretoria1Côte d’IvoirePretoria1CroatiaPretoria1CubaPretoria1CyprusPretoria1CzechiaPretoria1DenmarkPretoria1Dominican RepublicPretoria1DR CongoPretoria1EcuadorPretoria1EgyptPretoria1Equatorial GuineaPretoria1EritreaPretoria1EswatiniPretoria2EthiopiaPretoria1FinlandPretoria1FrancePretoria, Cape Town, Johannesburg3GabonPretoria1GambiaPretoria1GeorgiaPretoria1GermanyPretoria, Cape Town2GhanaPretoria1GreecePretoria1GuineaPretoria1GuyanaPretoria1HaitiPretoria1HungaryPretoria1IndiaPretoria1IndonesiaPretoria, Cape Town2IranPretoria1IraqPretoria1IrelandPretoria1IsraelPretoria1ItalyPretoria, Cape Town2JamaicaPretoria1JapanPretoria, Cape Town2JordanPretoria1KazakhstanPretoria1KenyaPretoria1KuwaitPretoria1LebanonPretoria1LesothoPretoria, Johannesburg, Durban4LiberiaPretoria1LibyaPretoria1LithuaniaPretoria1MadagascarPretoria1MalawiPretoria1MalaysiaPretoria1MaliPretoria1MauritaniaPretoria1MauritiusPretoria1MexicoPretoria1MoroccoPretoria1MozambiqueDurban, Pretoria2MyanmarPretoria1NamibiaPretoria, Cape Town2NepalPretoria1NetherlandsPretoria, Cape Town2New ZealandPretoria1NigerPretoria1NigeriaPretoria, Johannesburg2North KoreaPretoria1NorwayPretoria1OmanPretoria1PakistanPretoria1PalestinePretoria1PanamaPretoria1ParaguayPretoria1PeruPretoria1PhilippinesPretoria1PolandPretoria1PortugalPretoria, Johannesburg2QatarPretoria1Republic of the CongoPretoria1RomaniaPretoria1RussiaPretoria1RwandaPretoria1Saudi ArabiaPretoria1SenegalPretoria1SerbiaPretoria1SeychellesPretoria1SingaporePretoria1SlovakiaPretoria1SomaliaPretoria1South KoreaPretoria1South SudanPretoria1SpainPretoria1Sri LankaPretoria1SudanPretoria1SurinamePretoria1SwedenPretoria1SwitzerlandPretoria1SyriaPretoria1TaiwanPretoria, Cape Town2TanzaniaPretoria1ThailandPretoria1Timor-LestePretoria1TogoPretoria1Trinidad & TobagoPretoria1TunisiaPretoria1TürkiyePretoria, Cape Town2UgandaPretoria1UkrainePretoria1United Arab EmiratesPretoria1United KingdomPretoria, Cape Town, Johannesburg3United StatesPretoria, Durban, Johannesburg4UruguayPretoria1Vatican CityPretoria1VenezuelaPretoria1VietnamPretoria1Western SaharaPretoria1YemenPretoria1ZambiaPretoria1ZimbabwePretoria1
South Africa missions abroad
Albania1AlgeriaAlgiers1AngolaLuanda1ArgentinaBuenos Aires1AustraliaCanberra, Melbourne, Perth3AustriaVienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck4Bahrain1BelgiumBrussels1BeninCotonou1BotswanaGaborone1BrazilBrasília1BulgariaSofia1Burkina FasoOuagadougou1BurundiBujumbura1CameroonYaoundé1CanadaOttawa1ChadN'Djamena1ChileLas Condes1ChinaBeijing, Hong Kong2ComorosMoroni1Costa RicaSan José1Côte d’IvoireAbidjan1CroatiaZagreb1CubaHavana1CzechiaPrague1DenmarkCopenhagen1DR CongoKinshasa1EgyptCairo1Equatorial GuineaMalabo1EritreaAsmara1EswatiniMbabane1EthiopiaAddis Ababa1FijiSuva1FinlandHelsinki1FranceParis1GabonLibreville1Gambia1GermanyBerlin, Munich, Bremen11GhanaAccra1GreeceAthens1Guatemala1GuineaConakry1Guinea-BissauBissau1HungaryBudapest1IndiaNew Delhi1IndonesiaJakarta1IranTehran1IrelandDublin1IsraelTel Aviv1ItalyRome, Milan, Bari4JamaicaKingston1JapanTokyo1JordanAmman1KazakhstanAstana1KenyaNairobi1KuwaitKuwait City1LesothoMaseru1LiberiaMonrovia1MadagascarAntananarivo1MalawiLilongwe1MalaysiaKuala Lumpur1MaldivesMalé1MaliBamako1MauritaniaNouakchott1MauritiusPort Louis1MexicoMexico City1MoroccoRabat1MozambiqueMaputo1NamibiaWindhoek1Netherlands's-Gravenhage1New ZealandWellington1NigerNiamey1NigeriaAbuja, Lagos2NorwayOslo1OmanMuscat1PakistanIslamabad1PalestineJerusalem1Philippinesماكاتي1PolandWarsaw, Poznań2PortugalLisbon, Porto2QatarDoha1Republic of the CongoBrazzaville1RomaniaBucharest1RussiaMoscow1RwandaKigali1São Tomé & PríncipeSão Tomé1Saudi ArabiaRiyadh1SenegalDakar1SingaporeSingapore1South KoreaSeoul1South SudanJuba1SpainMadrid1Sri LankaColombo1SudanKhartoum1SwedenStockholm1SwitzerlandBern1SyriaDamascus1TaiwanTaipei1TanzaniaDar es Salaam1ThailandBangkok1Trinidad & TobagoPort of Spain1TunisiaTunis1TürkiyeAnkara, İzmir, Istanbul3UgandaKampala1UkraineKyiv, Odesa2United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi, Dubai2United KingdomLondon1United StatesWashington, D.C., Chicago2VenezuelaCaracas1VietnamHanoi1ZambiaLusaka1ZimbabweHarare1
Who can enter South Africa without a visa?
Visa rules change often. Always confirm with the official embassy or government site before you travel.
Frequently asked questions
Embassies & consulates in South Africa?
166 missions, 137 countries.
Emergency: South Africa?
112 (fire department), 112 (emergency medical services), 112 (police)
Who can enter South Africa without a visa?
93: Andorra, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, and Bolivia…