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General information about South Africa
People and Culture
South Africa, a country rich in diversity and often referred to as the Rainbow Nation, a term that was coined by the former Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has a population of approximately 55 million people. There are eleven official languages spoken in South Africa and those include: isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, English, SeTswana, SeSotho, SeSotho sa Leboa, xiTsonga, siSwati, TshiVenda and isiNdebele. South Africa is rich in culture, art, dance, music and with various traditional food that represent its diversity of culture and life.
Weather and climate
Gauteng Weather and Climate
South Africa has four seasonal patterns, which are spring - summer between August and January, autumn - winter between February and July. Gauteng offers one of the world’s best climates, summer days are warm and wind free and winter days are crisp and clear. Johannesburg and Pretoria differ in temperature by about 2% (Pretoria bring the warmer of the two).
Annual Weather averages. January is the hottest month in Pretoria and the northern parts with an average temperature of 74°F (24°C) and the coldest is June at 54°F (12°C). Johannesburg is normally mild due to the city's high elevation, with an average maximum daytime temperature in January of 25.6 °C (78.1 °F), dropping to an average maximum of around 16°C (61°F) in June. For more information please click here
Shopping experience
Shopping in South Africa provides similar if not same experience as that provided by Shopping Centers and Malls found in major cities around the world. There is a strong retail market and biggest in Africa in terms of the numbers and retail space. This includes several malls and shopping centres such as Mall of Africa, Sandton City and Menlyn Mall. In addition, there are Spaza shops (corner/ neighbourhood shops) in townships and Flea markets in townships and popular tourist areas.
For more information, please visit: www.southafrica.net or www.thesouthafrican.com
Banking Services
Importantly, South Africa is also renowned for providing one of the best Banking services in the world. The banks provide all kinds of services including merchant banking, cash management, personal and business banking. Visitors will need to provide among others valid passport, valid permit applicable and proof of residence, as required by the Bank. South Africa has a number of banks: Standard Bank www.standarbank.co.za, First National Bank www.fnb.co.za, Absa www.absa.co.za, Nedbank www.nedbank.co.za Capitec www.capitec.ac.za
Additional information at www.banking.org.za
Health and safety
South Africa has a large number of public hospitals and clinics that operate 24 hours daily. Travellers may visit the following sites to check and confirm information concerning health and safety issues in South Africa www.health.gov.za/; https://www.healthsites.org.za/
Last modified: 2019/04/04