Tools
Driving in South Africa
The rules of the road as our desk recorded them, native unit first.
Left
60 / 100 / 120 km/h · 37 / 62 / 75 mph
urban / rural / motorway
Not required
An English-language licence with a photograph is accepted; other licences need an IDP alongside.
0.05% (0.02% for professional drivers)
Tolled sections on the N1, N3 and N4, payable by card or cash at plazas. Gauteng's e-toll gantries were scrapped in 2024.
Not required by day.
Mandatory under three years; rentals stock them on request.
Driving is on the left. Minibus taxis stop without warning and are the main urban hazard; livestock and pedestrians on rural roads are the main one outside towns. Do not drive at night between towns if avoidable. Keep doors locked and windows up in cities, and never leave anything visible in a parked car.