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About Relocating to South Africa
relocatingtosouthafrica.com is a library of plain-English guides to moving to and living in South Africa, published by The Expat Club. It exists because the guides we needed when we moved did not: most were either sales pages for a service or scare pieces about crime. This is the version we wished we had found, written by people who actually made the move.
Who we are
The Expat Club is a community for internationals in South Africa. From late 2026 it runs real, in-person events in Cape Town, then Johannesburg and Durban: newcomers' welcomes, monthly socials and interest groups. This site is the practical half of that: the paperwork, the money and the where-to-live questions that come before the friendships.
How the guides are made
- Primary sources first. Visa rules are checked against the Department of Home Affairs, tax against SARS, exchange control against the South African Reserve Bank, and school fees against each school's published schedule. Where a figure is an estimate, we say so and give a range.
- Dated, not timeless. Every guide carries the month it was last reviewed and the year in its title. Figures are "as at" that date, because South African rules and prices move.
- Answer first. The first paragraph of each guide answers the question in the title directly. The detail follows for those who want it.
- Reviewed before publishing. Each guide is fact-checked against current sources and checked for structure before it goes live, and the guides most affected by policy change are re-checked monthly.
What we will not do
No provider pays to be named in a guide. We do not run affiliate links dressed up as recommendations. Where a guide points you to a professional, it is because that category of help genuinely matters, and introductions through The Expat Club are free to you and never obligatory. If a partner ever pays us a referral fee, it is disclosed on the introductions page, and it never changes what you are charged or who we recommend.
Corrections
If a figure is out of date or a rule has changed, tell us and we will fix it, usually within a few days. Email [email protected] with the page and what you found.
Start here
- All 55 guides, grouped by visas, money, where to live, schools, healthcare and settling in.
- Moving to South Africa: the complete 2026 guide, the best single page if you are early in the process.
- The free relocation guide (PDF), the whole thing in one document.
General information only, not legal, tax, immigration, financial or medical advice: confirm current rules with the relevant authority and consult a qualified professional.