South Africa Money

Currency

The South African currency is the rand (ZAR - often called the "buck" by locals) which is divided into one hundred cents. Notes are in denominations of R200, R100, R50, R20 and R10, and coins are in denominations of R5, R2, R1 and 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c and 1c.

Basic Costs

A generally favourable exchange rate ensures that Europeans, North Americans and Australasians find South Africa a very affordable holiday destination. Home users of Euros or US Dollars particularly will be pleasantly surprised at their purchasing power in South Africa.

Over the past decade South Africa has been among the world's best-performing developing economies, so travellers have been getting progressively less bang for their buck.

Banks

Banks in South Africa open from 09h00 to 15h30 on weekdays and from 08h30 to 11h00 on Saturdays. Most banks change all traveller's cheques in major currencies, but the commission charged can differ greatly between banks. Thomas Cook is represented in South Africa by Rennies Travel, American Express by Nedbank, and Visa by First National Bank. ATM machines will support your card if it bears the Cirrus logo.

Credit cards

Visa, American Express, Diner's Club and MasterCard are honoured by most restaurants, stores, hotels, car rental firms and other points of sale and service, but not at petrol stations. Proof of identity may be requested in some instances, so it's useful to carry a passport or some form of photo identification. A word of caution: beware of increasing credit card scams - keep a close eye on your card.

Tipping

It is customary to tip caddies, taxi drivers, hotel & railway porters, room maids, stewards, waiters/waitresses, tour guides & game rangers 10 to 15%. Because of poor wages, staff often rely heavily on tips for income. Many hotels have an "envelope system" with tips distributed evenly among staff.

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