South Africa, officially known as the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and nicknamed Mzansi, is a country that boasts a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. With a surface area covering 1,219,602 square kilometers, South Africa’s economy is mainly driven by the mining, transport, energy, manufacturing, tourism, and agriculture sectors. It also has a coastline that extends up to 3,000 kilometers. It is bordered by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Eswatini and it entirely surrounds Lesotho in the east.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in South Africa.
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South Africa, officially known as the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and nicknamed Mzansi, is a country that boasts a wide variety of cultures, languages, and religions. With a surface area covering 1,219,602 square kilometers, South Africa’s economy is mainly driven by the mining, transport, energy, manufacturing, tourism, and agriculture sectors. It also has a coastline that extends up to 3,000 kilometers. It is bordered by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Eswatini and it entirely surrounds Lesotho in the east.
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in South Africa.
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2025.
| January 1 | New Year’s Day | |
| March 21 | Human Rights day | |
| April 18 | Good Friday | Movable |
| April 21 | Family Day | Movable |
| April 27-28 | Freedom Day | |
| May 1 | Workers' day | |
| June 16 | Youth day | |
| August 9 | National Women's Day | |
| September 24 | Heritage Day | |
| December 16 | Day of Reconciliation | |
| December 25 | Christmas Day | |
| December 26 | Day of Goodwill |
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in the South Africa is 2 business days assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal and external review, directly leading to a time delay.
NOTE: This number is subject to change and is only an estimation of the Contract Sharing Time. The estimated Contract Sharing Time begins from the moment that WorkMotion has received all required information from both the client and the employee.
Fixed-term contracts for employees who earn less than R254,371.67 per year are limited to three months. Unjustifiable extensions beyond these durations turn them into indefinite contracts.
South Africa does not have a comprehensive social security system or a national healthcare program; consequently, no significant social security taxes are levied. Employers are only obligated to make contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund and Skills Development Levy (SDL) at the rate of 1% of gross remuneration in each fund plus a variable premium for accident insurance.
There is no prescribed time limit set for a probation period, but it should be reasonable. The length of the probationary period should be determined with reference to the nature of the job and the time it takes to determine the employee’s suitability for continued employment.
The following notice guidelines are for both employers and employees. The notice must be in writing, except for a worker who cannot write. If one cannot write, they can give verbal notice.
| Service period | Notice period |
| 6 months or less | 1 week |
| From 6 months to 1 year | 2 weeks |
| More than a year | 1 month |
There is no prescribed time limit set for a probation period, but it should be reasonable. The length of the probationary period should be determined with reference to the nature of the job and the time it takes to determine the employee’s suitability for continued employment.
The following notice guidelines are for both employers and employees. The notice must be in writing, except for a worker who cannot write. If one cannot write, they can give verbal notice.
| Service period | Notice period |
| 6 months or less | 1 week |
| From 6 months to 1 year | 2 weeks |
| More than a year | 1 month |
South Africa does not have a comprehensive social security system or a national healthcare program; consequently, no significant social security taxes are levied. Employers are only obligated to make contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund and Skills Development Levy (SDL) at the rate of 1% of gross remuneration in each fund plus a variable premium for accident insurance.
