South African Rand
Get ready for your trip to South Africa. Order your South African Rands at Manor FX today. Our great exchange rates mean you'll have more ZAR cash to spend. Have your South African Rand banknotes delivered securely to your home or office, or pick them up from the Manor FX bureau near Heathrow.
Manor FX offers fast delivery times and a fuss-free online ordering process for your South African rand travel money.
Travel advise: payments in South Africa
Jet off well-informed to South Africa. Here are some handy facts about cash and card payments in South Africa.
Yes. South Africa is one of the easiest countries in Africa for making international card payments. Most vendors accept card payments, debit and credit, with international Visa and Mastercard cards.
Contactless payments are available for purchases up to 500 ZAR.
Chip and pin payments are accepted by most vendors. But a number of vendors may still use the older type of card terminals that only accept swipe payments. UK cards may not support swipe payments if they haven't been activated beforehand.
Be aware of currency conversion fees: British banks may charge heavily for international card payments made in South Africa. In addition, your bank's ZAR to GBP exchange rate may not be so good. This is how banks make money. Before using your bank card for payments in South Africa, it's certainly a good idea to contact your bank. This will avoid your card becoming blocked due to international transactions that your bank may find suspicious.
We recommend that you take some ZAR cash with you on your trip to South Africa. Cash is still the most popular payment method in South Africa. A number of local vendors will only accept cash. This is also the case for taxis and street markets.
Cash is a great fallback option. It also avoids the currency exchange fees associated with card payments. And finally, you'll need cash to leave tips in South Africa.
South Africa is a very large country and prices vary widely from place to place. A coffee in a cafe will cost 20-30 ZAR. A three-course meal in a mid-range range costs around 500 rands.
The overall cost of living in South Africa is around 35% lower than the cost of living in the UK.
Tipping in South Africa is not very different from tipping in the UK. If you're happy with the service you should leave a tip of 10% or more.
Banknotes in South Africa
The South African Rand banknotes have recently been updated. The newest set of ZAR notes all have the portrait of Nelson Mandela.
South African banknotes in circulation are 10 ZAR, 20 ZAR, 50 ZAR, 100 ZAR and 200 ZAR.
Coins in South Africa
South African coins range from 1c to 5 rands. Did you get back from South Africa with some leftover coins? Our sister company Leftover Currency can help you to
exchange South African Rand coins back to cash.
South Africa's currency import and export regulations
Travelers are allowed to take up to 25,000 ZAR into South Africa per person. Foreign currency can be imported but needs to be declared if the value is over the equivalent of $10,000 USD.
When leaving South Africa, travelers can take up to 25,000 ZAR per person. The value of exported foreign currency can not be higher than the amount declared upon entry in South Africa.
There are no restrictions if you travel between South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia: These countries belong to the same monetary area.
Ordering South African Rands online
Order South African Rands online and have them delivered fast and securely to your home or office, with Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed®. Or pick them up from our travel money shop near Heathrow. Click here to
buy South African Rands online.
Selling back South African Rands
If you have South African Rands to sell, follow this link to
exchange South African Rands to Pounds, click on 'sell currency' and select 'ZAR South African Rand'. We'll pay good rates for your leftover South African Rands.
