South Africa

The citizen who is a holder of a national passport (diplomatic, official and ordinary) of the foreign countries, territories or international organisations listed below, is not required to hold a visa when reporting to an Immigration officer for an examination at a South African port of entry, subject to the terms and conditions set out in this list, including inter alia the intended period of stay in the Republic.

These regulations apply to South Africa's seven major ports, namely Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay and Saldanha Bay.

The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is responsible for approving ship security plans for South African ships, verifying compliance with the plans and issuing the International Ship Security Certificate (ISSC) and Continuous Synopsis Record (CSR).

This Level 1 Security is the default level applying at the seven ports mentioned above and port facilities within these ports. Any change of security level must be declared by the Director General, Transport, who is required to give proper notice of the declaration.

A ship under threat in a South African port can communicate with the local Port Control, the PSO, PFSO or MRCC. A ship security alert signal from a foreign flagged ship will go through the ship Owner or flagged state and will be received by the MRCC if the flag state or Owner forwards the alert to the MRCC.

Entry into port will be denied to any ship whose Master fails to submit complete and timely pre-arrival information, until such time as complete information has been received and processed.

ISPS pre-arrival messages must reach Cape Town Radio a minimum of 96 hours before arrival (suggested 5-7 days before arrival). These ISPS messages may be sent by either telex or email and must be exactly as specified in SAMSA Marine Notice Number 12 of 2008, which gives full details of the requirements for the ISPS clearance message; note that there is even a difference between / and //. All of the requirements are detailed in the Marine Notice, and any questions in this regard should be directed to vessel's Agent.

When sending an ISPS pre-arrival message to Cape Town Radio, send a copy to Agents by email. If the message is sent to Cape Town Radio by telex, ensure that the transmission is successful, and is confirmed by telex. Then, notify Agents of the time and date that the telex was transmitted. This is not necessary if the message is sent by email. Agent will then confirm receipt with Cape Town Radio and obtain a reference number.

Note, the ISPS pre-arrival message to Cape Town Radio should be sent only to Cape Town Radio, and only to the telex number or email address as stated in the Marine Notice. Tlx: 095 511600 or 095 521846. [email protected]

These requirements do not apply to fishing vessels, vessels used solely for sport or recreation, government ships engaged solely on non-commercial voyages, coasting ships (not departing South African waters and maintaining ISPS status quo), and ships transiting South Africa's territorial waters.

Reports are not required from ships making voyages between South African ports (i.e. coasting). If a ship makes a voyage to a port in another country (e.g. Maputo, Mozambique or Walvis Bay, Namibia), a Pre-Arrival/Pre-Entry Information Report must be made before any subsequent call at a South African port. Also, when a ship is coasting between South African ports and interfaces with another ship between ports, the Master must transmit a Pre-Arrival/Pre-Entry Information Report as soon as possible, but at least 5 hours before the ship's ETA.

Masters are advised to exercise care when drafting reports. It should be noted that in the format of the report field “B” is the time of making the report and field “J” is the ETA at the first port of call. There should be at least a 96 hours difference in the times.

Any vessel that will arrive at the OPL of the South African port 12 hours later than its ETA on a Pre-Arrival Notification must submit an amendment to its Pre-Arrival Notification.

Any vessel that has not arrived at the OPL of the first South African port indicated on the Pre-Arrival Notification within 108 hours (4.5 days) of submitting the PAN and has not submitted an amendment, will be required to re-submit a new PAN.

The MRCC does not security clear ships. Its function is to check pre-arrival/pre-entry information reports to ensure relevance and completeness. If MRCC has any queries regarding the ship's report, it will communicate with the ship via email. The MRCC forwards reports to the Department of Transport’s Maritime Security Coordination Centre (MSCC) in Pretoria, which is responsible for informing Port Security Officers (PSO) about ships' security clearance status. Ships' agents are not allowed to contact MSCC directly, they should obtain security clearance information from the relevant PSO.

Masters are cautioned that failure to transmit complete and correctly formatted pre-arrival/ pre-entry information on time may result in delays and, in appropriate cases, denial of port entry. Ships whose Masters refuse to give pre-arrival/pre-entry information will be denied port entry.

Masters, owners and operators are reminded that it is an offence in terms of the Marine Traffic Act, 1981, to anchor or stop a ship (for repairs or otherwise) in South Africa’s territorial or internal waters outside port limits without permission from SAMSA. Permission to anchor or stop may be obtained by submitting to the MRCC a Pre-arrival Information Report together with a request to anchor or stop. The MRCC will forward the request to the local SAMSA Principal Officer for a decision.

A ship that has to anchor or stop in an emergency must inform SAMSA as soon as possible, but at least within one hour after anchoring or stopping. Masters are reminded that SAMSA has the authority, even in an emergency, to set conditions for anchoring or stopping.

Durban. T: +27 31 307 1501. F: +27 31 306 4983.

East London. T: +27 43 722 4120. F: +27 43 722 2264.

Mossel Bay. T: +27 44 690 4201. F: +27 44 691 1206.

Ngqura. M: +27 79512 1017. F: +27 41 582 2130.

Port Elizabeth. T: +27 41 585 0051/3. F: +27 41 582 1213.

Port Nolloth. T: +27 27 851 7695. F: +27 27 851 7699.

Pretoria (Headquarters). T: +27 12 366 2600. F: +27 12 366 2601.

Richard’s Bay. T: +27 35 788 0068.

Saldanha Bay. T: +27 22 714 1612. F: +27 22 714 3635.

Western Region - Cape Town (includes Port Nolloth, Saldanha Bay and Cape Town). M: +27 72364 4958.

Southern Region - Port Elizabeth (includes Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth and East London). M: +27 76859 6790.

Eastern Region – Durban (includes Durban and Richards Bay) M: +27 76859 6790 and M: +27 76133 7799.

Department of Environment Affairs & Tourism (DEAT) T: +27 21 402 3911. M: +27 825576612. F: +27 21 421 5342.

SAMSA T: +27 21 402 8991. F: +27 21 421 6109. www.samsa.org.za

Travellers going to or coming from Zambia, Tanzania, Eritrea, Somalia as well as Sao Tome and Principe will no longer be required to produce a yellow fever vaccination certificate when in South Africa as these countries have been included on the World Health Organisation (WHO) list of countries with low potential for exposure to yellow fever virus.

In line with the International Health Regulations (2005) South Africa requires a valid yellow fever certificate from all citizens and non citizens over one year of age:

The International Health Regulations (2005) requires countries at risk of yellow fever introduction to employ the following measures:

Travellers who are in possession of an exemption certificate due to medical reasons will be:

Note: Definition of a valid yellow fever vaccination certificate: Vaccine should be approved by the WHO and administered at least 10 days before departure to South Africa at a yellow fever approved vaccination centre. The vaccine offers protection 10 days after administration and provided lifetime immunity.

Countries for which a yellow fever vaccination certificate is required for entry into South Africa: Angola, Argentina, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leon, Southern Sudan, Sudan, Suriname, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Venezuela.

The SRR of South Africa covers the entire South African coastal area; extends down to the South Pole, half way to South America to the west, and half way to Australia in the east.

The coastal area is divided into seven sub-regions under the control of the NPA, Harbour Masters of Saldanha Bay, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban, Richards Bay, as well as the Port Captain of Walvis Bay. Within each sub-region, the Harbour Master's office acts as a Rescue Sub-Centre (RSC).

MRCC Cape Town is operational 24/7. MRCC is also pro-actively involved in monitoring towing operations, vessels not under command, pollution reports and vessels aground around the South African coasts and report incidents to SAMSA for action as required.

Pretoria (Head Office). T: +27 12 366 2600. F: +27 12 366 2601.

Cape Town. T: +27 21 421 6170. F: +27 21 419 0973.

Durban. T: +27 31 307 1501. F: +27 31 309 4983.

Port Elizabeth. T: +21 41 585 0051. F: +27 41 582 1213.

Richards Bay. T: +21 35 788 0068.

Saldanha Bay. T: +27 22 714 1612. F: +27 22 714 3635.

East London. T: +27 43 722 41220. F: +27 43 722 2264.

Mossel Bay. T: +27 44 690 4201. F: +27 44 691 1206.

Port Nolloth. T: +27 27 851 7695. F: +27 27 851 7699.

Port of Ngqura. M +27 795121017. F: +27 41 582 2130.

A ship needing to anchor in an emergency must make the request as soon as possible but at least within one hour after anchoring. Even in an emergency, SAMSA has the authority to set conditions for anchoring.

Please note that no arms/ammunition are allowed on board vessels calling at South African ports unless the necessary permit has been granted by the South African Police Service. Applications for such permits, on the prescribed forms, must be made a minimum of 21 days before arrival. No exceptions are permitted. In the case of private security companies being engaged, the contracted company will take care of these requirements.

The trunk prefix is still zero, with the system generally organised geographically. All telephone numbers are ten digits long (including the three for area code), except for certain special services. When dialled from another country, the trunk digit (zero) is omitted and replaced with the appropriate international access code.