Currency

The unit of currency in South Africa is the Rand. One Rand is made up of 100 cents. The rand’s sign is R and it’s code is ZAR. The Z comes from the dutch Zuid-Afrikaanse rand. (South African Rand). Coincidentally South Africa's Internet TLD name '.za' also comes from the Dutch Zuid Afrika. The rand is the currency of the Common Monetary Area between South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. Currency exchanges can be done at Master Currency offices at the Cape Town International Airport, various banks, American Express offices, and most hotels. Be sure to ask about service commissions. 

1. Travel with certified copies of your valuable documents
2. Keep the originals in a safe place
3. Keep the originals seperate from the copies
4. Countersign less than half your traveller’s cheques
5. Separate your cash and credit cards
6. Don’t carry all your cash/traveller’s cheques with you during the day. If you can, store half of them in your hotel room's safe
7. We know you want to look like you can afford things - but try not to flash bundles of cash around
8. The accepted gratuity/tip at a restaurant is between 10% and 15%. It is usually not included in the bill - and many of the staff are not paid salaries
9. Keep your slips - you can claim VAT back on certain items when you leave South Africa - and if you need to declare a purchase when you return to your country
10.You will need loose change everywhere in Cape Town for parking meters / car guards / parking attendants