Working in South Africa: Work Visas, Minimum Wage, Income Tax and Economy for a French National

The 90-day visa-free stay that French nationals enjoy is for visits: the holder of a visitor’s visa is not allowed to take a local job (Department of Home Affairs, or DHA). A job in South Africa goes through a work visa, which is applied for with the DHA or its approved service provider.

• General Work Visa (section 19(2) of the Immigration Act): issued for the length of the employment contract and for five years at most. The employer provides a written undertaking on possible deportation costs, and the applicant provides a medical report signed by a practitioner (DHA).
• Critical Skills Work Visa (section 19(4)): up to five years, for an occupation on the critical skills list published in the Government Gazette. The file includes an evaluation of foreign qualifications by SAQA (the South African qualifications authority), registration with the professional body where the law requires it, and medical and radiological reports less than six months old (DHA).
• Intra-company Transfer Work Visa, Business Visa and visas for companies: three other categories on the DHA list, for transfers within a group, business founders and companies that recruit.

For these work visas, the DHA pages ask for a medical report and not for membership of a medical scheme: the requirement of cover with a registered medical scheme concerns study and exchange visas, and proof of medical cover appears on the retired person visa list. An employee who settles in still arranges their health protection; see healthcare reimbursement in South Africa.

The Minister of Home Affairs published on 18 October 2024, in the Government Gazette (no. 51416), a points system applicable to the General Work Visa and the Critical Skills Work Visa. An applicant must gather 100 points and meet the other requirements (police certificate, medical report). If the 100 points come from an occupation on the critical skills list, they can obtain a Critical Skills Work Visa; if they come from another combination of criteria, a General Work Visa.

• Occupation on the critical skills list: 100 points.
• Qualification: 50 points for level 9 or 10 of the South African qualifications framework (NQF), 30 points for level 7 or 8.
• Job offer (compulsory): 50 points above 976,194 rand gross a year (about €51,970), 20 points between 650,976 and 976,194 rand (about €34,660 to €51,970).
• Experience: 20 points for 5 to 10 years, 30 points beyond 10 years.
• Trusted Employer: 30 points; proficiency in an official language: 10 points.

The DHA specifies the filing procedures on its site: an applicant checks, before committing, that the system and the thresholds are still those of the 2024 notice.

The Remote Work Visa is a visitor’s visa (section 11(1)(b)(iv)) for remote work lasting more than three months and up to three years, for an employer established abroad. The DHA list of documents, in force since 9 October 2024, asks in particular for:

• a signed employment contract with the foreign employer;
• proof of sufficient means: a gross salary of at least 650,796 rand a year (about €34,650), supported by three months of bank statements;
• a return air ticket or its booking, a passport valid 30 days after the planned departure date, and a yellow fever certificate if the journey passes through an endemic zone.

The holder is not allowed to take a job in South Africa and does not apply for a change of status on site, except in exceptional circumstances. For tax, the DHA indicates that a holder who is tax resident in a country linked to South Africa by a double taxation treaty, such as France, registers with SARS beyond 183 days of presence over twelve months. The DHA list of documents mentions no medical insurance requirement for this visa; health cover remains essential in practice. See the guide to digital nomad visas and digital nomad insurance.

The conversions on this page rely on the ECB reference rate of 02/10/2026: 18.7839 rand per €1. The national minimum wage rose from 28.79 to 30.23 rand per ordinary hour worked on 1^st March 2026 (about €1.61), an increase of 1.44 rand announced by the Minister of Employment and Labour. It also applies to farm workers and domestic employees; participants in the public community work programme come under a separate rate of 16.62 rand an hour (the South African government’s news agency).

To put pay in the non-agricultural formal sector in perspective, Stats SA publishes an average monthly salary, bonuses and overtime included: 30,611 rand in May 2026 (about €1,630), up 4.1% over one year and 2.6% over the quarter. This average masks wide gaps between sectors and roles; the salary offered is compared with that of an equivalent position on site before signing. The job offer thresholds of the points system give another benchmark for skilled positions.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act sets minimum rules, summarised by the Western Cape government:

• Working time: 45 hours a week at most, or 9 hours a day for five working days or fewer, 8 hours a day beyond that.
• Overtime: 10 hours a week at most, paid at 1.5 times the normal hourly rate; work on a public holiday gives entitlement to double pay or negotiated time off.
• Leave: up to 21 consecutive days of annual leave, six weeks of paid sick leave over a 36-month cycle, four consecutive months of maternity leave and three paid days a year for family reasons.
• Notice: one week up to six months of service, two weeks from six months to one year, four weeks from one year.

A written contract states the pay, working time and place of work. The guide to working abroad helps you review a contract, and the page on secondment versus expatriation compares the two statuses.

The South African tax year runs from 1^st March to 28 February. SARS publishes, for the period from 1^st March 2026 to 28 February 2027, the following progressive scale (annual taxable income, in rand):

• up to 245,100 (about €13,050): 18%;
• from 245,101 to 383,100 (about €20,400): 44,118 plus 26% of the excess over 245,100;
• from 383,101 to 530,200 (about €28,230): 79,998 plus 31% of the excess over 383,100;
• from 530,201 to 695,800 (about €37,040): 125,599 plus 36% of the excess over 530,200;
• from 695,801 to 887,000 (about €47,220): 185,215 plus 39% of the excess over 695,800;
• from 887,001 to 1,878,600 (about €100,010): 259,783 plus 41% of the excess over 887,000;
• above 1,878,600: 666,339 plus 45% of the excess over 1,878,600.

A tax credit (rebate) of 17,820 rand (about €949) applies to all taxpayers, which brings the tax threshold to 99,000 rand (about €5,270) for those under 65. By way of illustration, the average salary for May (30,611 rand a month, or 367,332 rand a year) would give about 58,078 rand of annual tax, or nearly €3,090: an indicative calculation from the scale, excluding deductions, UIF and credits.

• UIF: unemployment insurance is financed equally, 1% of salary by the employee and 1% by the employer. Foreigners who work under a contract and must be repatriated at the end of it are among those excluded (Department of Employment and Labour).
• France-South Africa tax treaty of 8 November 1993, in force since 1^st November 1995: article 4 settles dual residence (permanent home, centre of vital interests, habitual abode, nationality); article 15 reserves the taxation of a salary to the state of residence when the stay in the other state does not exceed 183 days in the year, the employer is not resident there and the pay is not borne by a permanent establishment; article 23 avoids double taxation through a tax credit.
• Social security: CLEISS (the French liaison centre for international social security) does not list South Africa among the countries that have concluded a bilateral agreement with France; secondment or expatriate status therefore determines the applicable scheme (see healthcare reimbursement).

A self-employed person or business founder first finds out which visa allows them to operate: the Business Visa appears on the DHA list, and the Remote Work Visa covers remote work for a foreign employer. SARS is the contact for tax registration, any provisional tax payments and VAT. The scale in the previous section applies to the taxable income of an individual.

With no local employer, health cover and social protection are chosen by yourself: the CFE (the French social security fund for expatriates), international insurance or membership of a medical scheme. The guide to the CFE or private insurance compares the options, and the page on digital nomad insurance covers remote activities.

In the second quarter of 2026, Stats SA reports a 0.2% fall in real gross domestic product, after a 0.4% rise in the first quarter (release of 8 September). By sector, financial, real estate and business services rose 0.3%, transport 0.9% and general government services 1.0%, while trade, catering and accommodation fell 1.9%, manufacturing 1.8% and mining 3.0%, with marked declines for platinum group metals, manganese, gold and iron ore.

The currency is the rand (ZAR): 18.7839 rand per €1 on 2 October 2026 (ECB). Updated employment and unemployment indicators appear in the economic indicators block of this page. The outlook can be followed in the publications of Stats SA, the central bank (SARB) and the National Treasury. See also living in South Africa for the cost of living and the evolution of electricity.