South Africa has excellent mobile phone (cellphone) service providers. Advise clients to contact their own service providers before travelling to set up international roaming, or they can buy a prepaid SIM card at the airport when arriving to use locally on their own phones. Airtime can be purchased at shops and malls almost anywhere in South Africa. Network coverage is fairly widespread, except deep in the bush or in very rural areas.
There are internet cafés in most towns and cities, and Wi-Fi is widely available throughout the country, even in some game reserves, and certainly in luxury game lodges and high-end accommodation.
Need to know
What is the weight and measurement system in South Africa?
South Africa’s metric system uses kilograms, grams, kilometres, and degrees Celsius instead of Fahrenheit.
What about clothes and shoe sizes (South Africa is a shopping mecca)?
South Africa uses the United Kingdom system.
Buying food, beverages and alcohol?
There are grocery stores, supermarkets and bottle stores throughout the country. Excellent wine can be found in supermarkets (visitors are often amazed at how comparatively little a good bottle of wine costs), but for beer and the hard stuff such as whiskey and other spirits, visitors will have to use a bottle store. If your client likes a tipple, then it’s always a good idea for them to buy a bottle of their favourite hooch at duty-free airport shops or on the plane.
What about customs regulations?
There’s no duty on personal effects, and airlines will let their passengers know about duty-free amounts.
