No visa is required by EU nationals, as well as those of the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, to enter South Africa. As long as you carry a valid passport you will be granted a temporary visitors permit, which allows you to stay for up to three months in South Africa. All visitors should have a valid return ticket; without one, you may be required to deposit the equivalent of your fare home with customs (the money will be refunded to you after you have left the country). Visitors may also need to prove that they have sufficient funds to cover their stay.

 

Citizens of some African and former Eastern Bloc countries do require a visa to enter South Africa, and this must be purchased in advance, as visas are not issued on arrival. If you come under this category and plan on travelling to Lesotho and Swaziland during your trip, you'll need a multi-entry visa to get back into South Africa. If you don't have one, it will be issued free of charge on return, although this can be time-consuming. For longer stays in South Africa, applications for extensions to temporary residence permits must be made at one of the main offices of the Department of Home Affairs, where you will be quizzed about your intentions and your funds. In Cape Town, go to 56 Barrack St (tel 021 462 4970); in Johannesburg, the office is at the corner of Plein and Harrison streets (tel 011 836 3228); they also have offices in a number of towns - check in the telephone directory, and make sure that they are able to grant extensions.

Note that a brief visit to either Swaziland or Lesotho is not a reliable way of obtaining a new three-month temporary residence permit in South Africa - immigration officials will often only grant a limited stay on re-entry