Living in South Africa as a French National: Cities, Visas, Cost of Living, Schools and Safety

South Africa brings together coastlines, mountains, savannas and large metropolises in a single country, with marked seasons and a temperate climate (see the climate section). The country has twelve official languages, including English (South African government), and French nationals have a consular network in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town, complemented by honorary consuls (French embassy). The two French lycées of the AEFE network take children in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

• Health: the embassy reminds us that the French state does not pay healthcare costs abroad. Protection should be arranged before departure, with the page on the South African healthcare system and the guide to healthcare reimbursement.
• Visas: the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) distinguishes many categories, each with its own supporting documents; residence permits are detailed below.
• Safety: the embassy publishes advice on caution at home and on the move, presented in the dedicated section.
• Energy: the situation of the power grid has improved markedly (see the section on safety and daily life).

The choice of city determines the climate, the children’s school, access to reference hospitals and the competent consulate. The five destinations below come up most often in settling-in plans.

• Cape Town (Western Cape): seat of a consulate general of France and of the François-le-Vaillant lycée. The province receives most of its rain in winter, whereas the rest of the country has summer rainfall (South African government).
• Johannesburg (Gauteng): economic capital, seat of a consulate general of France and of the Jules-Verne lycée. At an altitude of 1,694 metres, the city stays below 30 °C on average in summer, with winter nights that can reach freezing.
• Pretoria (Gauteng): seat of the French embassy and of an annex of the Jules-Verne lycée; the city forms a single urban area with Johannesburg, in the most populous province of the country (South African government).
• Durban (KwaZulu-Natal): east coast city, bathed by the warm Agulhas current. No school of the AEFE network is located there: families look at local schools or distance schooling.
• Garden Route (Western Cape): coastal region around George, Knysna and Mossel Bay. Families look at schooling and the distance to reference hospitals before committing, because the AEFE network is limited to Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town.

Before signing a lease, a scouting stay of a few weeks, outside the summer season, helps compare neighbourhoods. The page working in South Africa describes the job markets.

Short stay: France is on the list of countries whose nationals can stay 90 days at most without a visa (DIRCO, the South African foreign ministry). For any visa application, the DHA requires a passport valid for at least 30 days after the planned departure date, a yellow fever certificate for travellers coming from an endemic zone and, depending on the category, a medical report, a police certificate and proof of medical cover.

• Work visas: General Work Visa, Critical Skills Work Visa, Intra-company Transfer Work Visa, Business Visa and visas for companies (DHA). Details are in working in South Africa.
• Study and exchange: the study visa and the exchange visa require cover with a medical scheme registered under the South African Medical Schemes Act (DHA).
• Retirement: the Retired Person’s Visa requires a minimum monthly income of 37,000 rand (about €1,970) and proof of medical cover (DHA); see retiring in South Africa.
• Relative’s visa and medical treatment visa: two other categories on the DHA list, with their own supporting documents.

Processing times vary by visa: they should be checked with the DHA before fixing a settling-in date. Once on site, the French embassy recommends registering on the register of French nationals living abroad for any stay of more than six months, with the competent consulate. The checklist for the first 90 days helps you put the steps in order.

The conversions on this page rely on the ECB reference rate of 02/10/2026: 18.7839 rand (ZAR) per €1. The official sources consulted give price changes rather than an average rent by neighbourhood: the budget is built from local listings and visits.

• Housing: in August (twelve-month change), actual rents rise 4.1% and the “housing and services” group 5.2% (Stats SA).
• Energy and water: electricity, gas and other fuels rise 7.4% and water 7.2% over twelve months.
• Transport: +8.8% over twelve months, including +20.0% for fuels, which weighs on the budget of households that drive a lot.

To estimate the cost of health, the guide to budgeting for health abroad offers a method, and expat health insurance brings together the solutions.

The AEFE lists two schools under agreement in South Africa: the Lycée français Jules-Verne in Johannesburg, with an annex in Pretoria, and the Lycée français du Cap François-le-Vaillant. Families settling in Durban or on the Garden Route compare local schools or plan for distance schooling; the French embassy provides information on accreditations.

School grants are for French children registered on the register of French nationals living abroad, aged at least three, who attend a school accredited by the French Ministry of Education or, exceptionally, a school providing at least half of its teaching in French. They are applied for online (Scolaide platform) during two annual campaigns: the first from January to March, the second with a deadline set at 2 October for the 2026-2027 school year. They are not an acquired right and are reviewed every year (French embassy).

Children’s health cover is arranged in parallel, with the guide to children’s health cover abroad.

France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) publishes two alerts for South Africa: heightened vigilance for French nationals abroad (10 September) and a rise in measles cases (13 March). Since 1 July 2026, travellers complete an online declaration of goods and currency, through the SARS tax service, on entry and on exit.

• Embassy advice: drive with windows and doors closed, avoid night journeys away from the main roads, give up walking at night, save emergency numbers in your phone and stay alert when withdrawing cash. The embassy puts online advice sheets for the home and for travel.
• Useful numbers: police 10111 (10112 from a mobile), provincial ambulance 10177, and consular duty lines on +27 (0) 82 467 25 88 (Johannesburg) and +27 (0) 83 460 43 60 (Cape Town), Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (French embassy).
• Electricity: Eskom reports 504 consecutive days without load shedding as of 2 October 2026 and a generation availability rate of 68.11% since 1 April. Local load reductions still affect 202,590 customers, or 2.8% of its customer base, and the company aims to end them by March 2027.

Details on access to emergency care are on the page South African healthcare system.

The South African government describes a temperate, relatively dry climate, with average rainfall of about 464 mm a year. The Western Cape receives most of its rain in winter, the rest of the country in summer. The east and west coasts contrast sharply: the warm Agulhas current warms the east coast, the cold Benguela current cools the west coast. Inland, altitude tempers the summer but accentuates the gap between day and night in winter.

Twelve languages are official: English, Afrikaans, isiNdebele, isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati, Sepedi, Setswana, Sesotho, Xitsonga, Tshivenda and South African Sign Language. Most South Africans are multilingual. Health protections linked to the climate (malaria in certain north-eastern regions) appear on the healthcare system page.