Travelling to South Africa
Entry requirements by nationality
- Argentina: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Australia: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Brazil: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Canada: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Chile: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- China: visa required
- France: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Germany: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- India: visa required
- Israel: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Italy: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Japan: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Malaysia: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Mexico: visa required
- Netherlands: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- New Zealand: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Singapore: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- South Korea: visa-free short stay — up to 30 days per visit
- Spain: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- Ukraine: visa required
- United Kingdom: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
- United States: visa-free short stay — up to 90 days per visit
What you can bring
- Alcohol: allowed, within limits — 2 litres of wine plus 1 litre of other alcoholic beverages (including beer), duty-free per person, once per 30-day cycle after an absence of 48 hours or moreDetailscompare everywhere →
- Cannabis: prohibitedDetailscompare everywhere →
- Cash: allowed, must be declared — South African bank notes must be declared on arrival. Currency — Rand, or foreign currency convertible to Rand — in excess of R100,000 requires National Treasury/SARB permission and must be reported under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act; undeclared excess currency is subject to search and seizure.Detailscompare everywhere →
- Controlled medication: depends on specifics — SARS's traveller guide lists 'Narcotics and habit-forming drugs' among prohibited goods that 'may not be imported' at all, while separately stating that 'Travellers may import their personal medicines provided it is for not more than three (3) months' use,' accompanied by a doctor's prescription, under its restricted-goods rule for 'Medicine.' The guide does not specify which rule governs a specific controlled prescription medicine — e.g. an ADHD stimulant, a benzodiazepine, or an opioid painkiller — so it cannot be confirmed from this source alone whether such medication is treated as an allowed personal medicine or a prohibited habit-forming drug.Detailscompare everywhere →
- Drones: depends on specifics — "In accordance with Part 101.02.4(1) of the Civil Aviation Regulations, 2011, no remotely [piloted] UAS shall be operated within the Republic of South Africa, unless such UAS has been issued with a certificate of registration by the Director" (South African Civil Aviation Authority). This is a flight-operation registration requirement, not a customs import ban — bringing a drone into the country isn't itself restricted, but legally switching it on to fly is.Detailscompare everywhere →
- E-cigarettes: allowedDetailscompare everywhere →
- Fresh produce: allowed, must be declared — Plants and plant products are restricted goods and may only be imported under permit or quota.Detailscompare everywhere →
- Meat & dairy: allowed, must be declared — Animal products, including meat and dairy, are restricted goods and may only be imported under permit or quota.Detailscompare everywhere →
- Prescription medication: allowed, within limits — Personal medicines for up to three months' use are allowed, accompanied by a prescription issued by a medical doctor.Detailscompare everywhere →
- Tobacco: allowed, within limits — 200 cigarettes, or 20 cigars, or 250g combined pipe/cigarette tobacco, duty-free per person, once per 30-day cycle after an absence of 48 hours or moreDetailscompare everywhere →
- Weapons: allowed, within limits — Firearms are restricted goods — they may only be imported under permit and are excluded from every traveller duty-free allowance.Detailscompare everywhere →
From the blog
Checked against official sources on 2026-08-11. Official source