International dating — South Africa

Location map — South Africa — South Africa. Simplified location map — Natural Earth data, public domain.

The context

Eleven official languages, several marriage systems recognised side by side, and a strong tradition of holding a traditional ceremony and a white wedding as two separate events, often months apart, with different guests and different budgets.

Entering the country

Visa-free entry for many nationalities for up to ninety days; others need a visitor visa. Note the strict documentary rules for travelling with children.

Marrying, and having it recognised

Civil marriage, customary marriage and civil union are all recognised. A customary marriage is valid once lobola has been negotiated and the ceremony performed, and it must be registered with Home Affairs to be provable. A foreign partner needs a letter of no impediment. See civil marriage in South Africa.

Getting there

Direct flights from Europe, the Gulf and parts of Africa to Johannesburg and Cape Town. The southern-hemisphere summer, December to February, is the peak season.

Customs and family

Lobola is not a sale. It marks the joining of two families. Skipping it implies that no such tie exists, while presenting it as a price paid hurts the family just as badly. Find out beforehand, through a trusted intermediary close to the family, what is expected and who delivers it. See wedding customs.

Points to watch

Processing times at Home Affairs are the principal constraint on any spousal visa plan — build the calendar around them, not around the wedding.
Register the customary marriage: unregistered, it is hard to prove and impossible to transcribe abroad.
Check regional travel advice and take the usual urban precautions.

Two firm red lines

Paying for sex with anyone, or any relationship involving a minor, is prosecuted here as it is elsewhere. Your home state keeps jurisdiction over you while you travel: in cases of sexual offences against a child, most legal systems waive the requirement that the act also be an offence locally and do not wait for a complaint, so a prosecution at home remains possible whatever happens on the spot. Read sexual offences committed abroad.

Relationships that began online

Romance fraudsters follow a recognisable script: feelings declared within days, endless excuses to avoid a video call, an emergency that needs cash, and a push to move the conversation to a private channel. Treat sending money to a person you have not met in the flesh as out of the question. A sincere correspondent will agree to a video chat, a first meeting in a public place and an introduction to relatives.

Spotting and reporting a romance scam — South Africa

South Africa: everything on this site

This country appears on 35 other pages of this site, across every section. Here they all are, in one place.

Sexuality

Health

Advice

Marriage

Names

Names

Rights

Official sources and links

Your own foreign ministry's travel advice — read it before each departure: it also conditions your travel insurance. Official portals: United Kingdom · United States · Canada · Australia · New Zealand · Ireland
Your consular post there, or the one covering the country — civil status, marriage, emergencies; note the number before you go. Official directories: United Kingdom · United States · Canada · Australia · New Zealand · Ireland
World Health Organization — health recommendations by destination
Hague Conference on Private International Law — celebration and recognition of the validity of marriages

The full dossier, one page per question

What to see

A mountain in a city, the best-value safari in Africa, and a coastline that runs between two oceans.

Where to go

Cape Town

Table Mountain, the Cape peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Beach and its penguins, and Robben Island — which should be visited with the same seriousness as the District Six Museum and the apartheid history it documents. Wine country at Stellenbosch and Franschhoek is forty minutes away. Five days.

The Garden Route

From Cape Town east along the coast: Hermanus for whales between June and November, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay and Tsitsikamma. A week including Cape Town.

Kruger National Park

One of the great game reserves and unusually accessible: you can self-drive, stay in rest camps and see the big five without a guided package. The private reserves alongside offer guided viewing at a much higher price. Four days minimum; May to September.

The Drakensberg

Mountain walking, San rock art — some of the oldest and finest in the world, a World Heritage site — and amphitheatres of basalt. Cooler, greener and far less visited than Kruger. Three to four days.

Johannesburg and Soweto

The Apartheid Museum is among the best history museums anywhere, and Soweto with a local guide is essential rather than optional. The Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage site of hominid fossils, is an hour away. Two to three days.

The Wild Coast and KwaZulu-Natal

Durban, the Zulu heartland, iSimangaliso wetland park and a coastline that is barely developed.

Building the itinerary

Three stops a week, no more.