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About SA - Money and Tipping

The South African currency is the Rand, divided into 100 cents. Your ATM (cash machine) or debit card, or credit card, should work just fine in South Africa. As long as you have a major credit card (VISA, MasterCard, Diners Club, American Express, etc.), it should work. Most shops only take VISA/MasterCard, however, and debit cards from these two card issuers.

Tipping

South Africa has many part-time workers who earn very little, so it is considered very mean to not tip. It is customary to tip waiters, barkeepers, car guards, tour guides, and petrol pump attendants. The accepted tipping rate for waiters and barkeepers is 10%. You should avoid tipping less than that. Car guards should be paid between R 2 and R 5, but not less. If the car guard washed your car (usually at a cost of about R 30), you should add the guarding tip to the cost of washing the car. Tour guides see themselves as specialists, so tipping less than R 10 is probably an insult; R 20 is probably safer. Petrol pump attendants are usually happy with R 2 to R 5. Giving R 10 is considered generous. It is considered odd to tip anyone who is a trained professional or white-collar worker, e.g., the cable repair guy, the restaurant manager, the grocery packer at the supermarket. They're paid a salary. R 20 is considered a very good tip in most contexts (except for waiters), as it will buy a meal. R 2-5 will probably buy a cold drink, chocolate bar, or half a loaf of bread, so it is a reasonable tip. Less than R 2 cannot really buy anything.

The Rand's buying power is approximately 1/10 of one British Pound Sterling for the same product. So, if a litre of petrol costs approximately £ 1 in the UK, you can expect to pay up to R 10 in South Africa (the petrol price fluctuates quite a lot, it is currently almost R 8/L). A restaurant meal for one person typically costs around R 100-150, including drinks, but can be as little as R 50. This translates to about 5-15, which is what you pay in the UK (e.g., at a pub). So although the exchange rate (R: £) is officially about 13:1, the actual buying power is about 10:1 for the pound. The dollar is about 8:1. Of course, this varies as the exchange rate varies.

These figures are at the time of writing, i.e., the costs may vary when you visit. Passages taken with permission from "An Insider's Guide to Johannesburg" by J. M. Ostrowick

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