South Africa is a beautiful country with world famous cities, beaches and exotic wildlife. If you like the idea of going to work in South Africa, browse short term and temporary work, working holidays, backpacker and gap year jobs, summer and winter jobs, farm work, fruit picking, hospitality jobs, volunteering programs, internships and more.
Top Rated Opportunities
Top Reasons to Work in South Africa
Need some convincing South Africa is the country for you? Here are some top reasons to move here:
• Choice of amazing places to live and work including spectacular cities like Cape Town
• English speaking local people
• High salaries compared to other countries in Africa
• Travel opportunities – see amazing places or go on safaris in your free time
How to Find a Job in South Africa
Professional Careers
Some of the global companies with a presence in South Africa include luxury car manufacturers BMW, the Standard Bank Group, Barclays Bank, Vodafone (one of the world’s largest communication companies), Volkswagen, and General Electric. There is also FirstRand, Sasol, Sanlam, and MTN Group.
Temporary Work
If you are looking for short term, summer or seasonal type jobs you can find work throughout the country in the travel and tourism industry. Hotels, safari lodges, tour companies and travel operators hire local and international staff all year round.
Volunteering and Work Experience
If you are keen to go backpacking or take a gap year in South Africa you might want to consider interning or volunteer work. There are lots of programs available where you can help animals, communities and the environment. These types of projects are generally unpaid, but offer a really incredible experience.
Best Places to Get Employment
Most foreigners find work in the bigger cities where most local and international companies are based. We recommend thinking about moving to Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Soweto, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, Pietermaritzburg, Benoni, Tembisa, East London, Vereeniging or Bloemfontein.
Work in Cape Town
A mere 2 hours cloud surfing from Jo’Burg and you’re touching down into the city of Cape Town. Home to Robben Island where the late great Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, a busy shipping harbour and one of the 7 natural wonders of the world; Table Mountain. There are lots of companies based in Cape Town, and it is one of the best places to find employment as a foreigner in the whole of Africa.
There are so many benefits of moving here too, Cape Town is a coast around the city you can see the migrating blue whales just off the shore as the sun sets into the Atlantic Ocean. The array of restaurants and bars of the famous Long Street pump beats to move your feet and the friendly nature of the people made Cape Town shoot to the top of the list of cities you’ll want to live in the world.
Work in Johannesburg
Arriving into Johannesburg past the many miles of Townships rusty tin shacks housing over a million people, you might began to feel a real eye opening appreciation of how lucky you are.
Johannesburg can be an eye opening experience, but it is also a city which is changing fast especially the city centre where more companies are calling the city home. When living here take to the streets of Soweto to view the reality of what every day life is like for people here – it will certainly change the way you all think about a tube strike or a 5 minute delay on the bus.
Visa
Are you wondering how do I get a work permit for a foreigner in South Africa?
To legally live and work in South Africa you will need to get a company to hire you. They will then be able to provide you with a letter confirming your employment status. You will also need proof of qualifications evaluated by the South African Qualification Authority, references and certificates.
Work permits or temporary visas for work are issued by the Department of Home Affairs. Applications for temporary residence visas are processed and finalised at the foreign offices of the Department of Home Affairs, and you should make travel arrangements only once the visa has been approved.
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