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2. Reasons to visit South Africa
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3. South Africa's infrastructure

Visitors are usually caught by surprise at South Africa's infrastructure of roads, harbours, telecoms, railroads etc. as the most sophisticated in Africa. The transport sector especially stands out compared to the rest of the continent. The air and rail networks are the largest and most extensive, and the roads are generally in a good condition.

The country is also a prominent player on the shipping routes between the Indian and Atlantic oceans, acting as a stopover between Europe, Asia, Australasia and both coasts of Africa, with many Major shipping lines routing their ships along the South African coastline and around the most southern tip of Africa.

Let's face it, getting to South Africa involves a long flight, especially from the States, but it is well worth it. Planning your trip is easy enough; over 50 international airlines fly here, either directly or through connected flights.

You will most likely arrive at the biggest gateway airport, OR Tambo, in Johannesburg. But international flights also land at the multi-award winning and picturesque Cape Town International airport. From there on visitors will usually do most of their by car or bus, using the country's excellent and extensive asphalt highways and national roads system. In the rural areas you will also find gravel roads though, but these are well maintained and easy to negotiate.

Please note that:

• A valid international driver's licence is required.
• We drive on the left hand side of the road.
• Wearing seat belts is compulsory and cell phones can only be used hands free.
• Speed limits are generally set at 120km on freeways, 100km on secondary roads and 60km in urban areas.
• Toll fees apply on certain national roads.
• Petrol stations are widespread.
• Most global car hire firms have branches in South Africa, along with local concerns.
• The Automobile Association (AA) supplies road maps.

The following is a selection of the information that can be found on this page:

The Airports,...

South Africa is home to 9 major airports, comprising 3 international ones, which are O.R. Tambo International airport at Johannesburg, Cape Town International airport, King Shaka International airport at Durban and 6 domestic ones and they are Port Elizabeth airport, Bram Fisher airport at Bloemfontein, East London airport, George airport, Kimberley airport and Upington airport. These airports are all equipped with the latest high-tech facilities and measure up with the best in the world.

The domestic airlines that operate regular flight schedules between these airports are South African airways, South African Airlink, South African Express, British Airways, Mango airways, Kulula Airways and SafAir Airways who arrived on the Domestic airline scene only recently. Among these 7 airline companies South African Airways is the national airline carrier, while Mango, Kulula and SafAir can be regarded as the price fighters among them.

The Ports,...

There are 8 major commercial Ports in South Africa. State-owned and run by the Transnet National Ports Authority (NPA), they are Richards Bay and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, Port Elizabeth, East London and the Port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape and Mossel Bay, Cape Town and Saldanha Bay in the Western cape. Ngqura is Africa's Deepest container terminal. Durban is the busiest Port and largest container facility in Southern Africa, while Richard's Bay is the world's largest bulk coal terminal.

The Railways,...

As the 14th longest in the world, South Africa's rail infrastructure includes an extensive railroad network, connecting its Ports not only with destinations within the country, but also with the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. The network includes 21 000 km of railroads of which 1500 km are designated for heavy haulage and of which a total of 8 200 km has been electrified.

The number of people that travel by train every day lies around the 2.2 million. The vast majority of them are commuters in the metropolitan areas who use the Metrorail commuter services. Shosholoza Meyl rail services operates train services between the country's major cities. Latest addition to South Africa's railroad infrastructure is the Gautrain, a high-speed train traveling at 160km/hr that operates between O.R. Tambo International Airport and the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The Roads,...

The entire network of roads in South Africa comes to a total of 747,000 kilometres, classified as follows;

• 16,200 km of asphalt surface national and metropolitan highways, including 2,400 km of toll roads of the highest standard. National highways are recognized by a number prefixed with the letter "N", while metropolitan highways are recognized by a number prefixed with the letter "M".


• 185,000 km of asphalt surface provincial roads of a very high standard. Provincial roads are recognized by a number prefixed with the letter "R".


• 66,000 km of asphalt surface municipal roads in good condition.


• 102,000 km of non-surfaced urban roads in good condition.


• 300,000 km of secondary non-surfaced roads in excellent condition, recognized by just a number without prefix. Perfectly driveable with an ordinary 2WD vehicle.


• 77,800 km unclassified roads in rural areas. South Africa driving conditions of most of them are good enough for ordinary 2WD vehicles.

Read more about South Africa's roads infrastructure >>

The Electricity,...

Years of neglect of the South Africa's electrical power infrastructure, especially in the black population areas during the apartheid years, had led to a situation of a large imbalance between a seriously underdeveloped power infrastructure in the areas mentioned and a well developed one in the more prosperous metropolitan and industrialized parts of the country.

Economical development and empowerment of the Country's third world component created a demand for electrical energy rising so fast, that it exceeded the present state owned supply capabilities by far. A serious threat to the country's overall growth potential.

To get things back into balance the government has embarked on a massive electrification program, involving an investment of 340 billion Rand. Generally speaking, tourists and visitors will experience a well developed and sophisticated electrical power supply network comparable with the best in the world.

The one thing they may encounter is the concept of load shedding, an action whereby during periods when electricity demand exceeds supply capability, the overload is reduced by temporary interrupting supply to certain areas. This is done on a national basis. What it means is, that during peak periods the electricity supply will be cut off for 1 to 2 hours every so often, which can vary from once a day to once per number of days or even weeks.

The Telecommunications,...

Powered by the meteoric development and growth of mobile telecoms and high speed broadband connectivity, telecommunications is one of the fastest growing industries in South Africa. With the latest in satellite, wireless and fixed-line technology, the country's telecoms network is almost 100% digital and can be compared with the best in the world

There are two fixed-line or land-line operators, Telkom and Neotel, who provide telephone services to residential, office and other establishments, including an extensive public call box network country wide. Home Direct (charging a call to your home number) and Reverse Charge services are also available.

The five mobile network operators are Vodacom, MTN, 8ta, Cell C and Virgin Mobile. They offer mobile telephone services country wide. Coverage and reception is usually very good in urban and coastal areas. Air time and Sim cards are readily available at all retail outlets, petrol stations and post offices from as little as R1-00.

Internet access is widely available in South Africa. Most accommodation establishments such as Hotels, Guest Houses and B&B's offer Wifi internet connections. In addition there are numerous internet cafes throughout the metropolitan and larger urban areas. Most of them offer a high speed ADSL land-line dial up connection at very reasonable rates.

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