| Submitted by: Philip Hazel, United Kingdom |
| Submission Date: 04 February 2005 |
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The bid is underway and the outcome is expected in late 1997. The contest is against Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo and some others.
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Major hotels subscribe to CNN and Sky News now. Also available is BBC World Service TV at certain times of the day on the pay channel, M-Net. In October 1995, South Africa will have full satellite TV, with all major US and European satellite channels available.
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There is a good banking system. Visa & Mastercard accepted almost everywhere, but NOT for buying gasoline (called petrol, as in Britain). You can walk into most banks and change foreign currency on the spot (well, I've done it for sterling). The unit of currency is the Rand, divided into 100 cents. Some people pronounce 'rand' to rhyme with 'and', but it is also commonly pronounced to sound more like 'runt'.
I haven't tried to use ATM's in South Africa myself, but I was sent the following comment by someone who has:
We have now been in SA and tried it: we only managed to get money from ATM's of the STANDARD bank, and there our Girobank (post office bank) card was always accepted, our other bank card sometimes.
The coins have recently been changed, and you still occasionally come across some of the old ones, though they are now [1996] mostly withdrawn. [Martin Jordison says: There seems to be no cut-off for the old, although any vending-type machines, parking meters etc. are now mostly using the 'new' variety (easily identifiable as the smaller coins, except for 5c which was nickel, now copper but twice as large). Generally, if a machine/meter etc. uses old coins, there is a sign displayed indicating this. Shops etc. still readily accept the old though.] The denominations are:
1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, R1, R2, R5 coins;
R10, R20, R50, R100 notes
I am told R200 notes have recently been introduced, though I have yet to see one or be offered one by a bank.
South Africa introduced Value Added Tax (VAT) in 1992, replacing General Sales Tax. Prices on goods in shops generally are quoted with the tax included, so what you see is what you pay. This also applies to items on menus and other small things. The only thing I have come across which was quoted ex-VAT was the price of a rented cottage on a farm. The current rate [1995] of VAT is 14%. Visitors can claim back VAT on certain goods at the airport as they leave (as in the UK).
Check the exchange rate at the airport when you are leaving; in 1995 I got a far better deal changing my remaining rands into sterling than I would have got back in England.
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The former DF Malan International Airport has been officially renamed 'Cape Town International' (as with other airports in SA). Serious upgrading still needs to be done, though they reportedly handled the Rugby World Cup fairly well.
British Airways and South African Airways fly non-stop to Cape Town from London Heathrow, twice a week each [1995]. A number of other European airline also fly direct, but with a stop in Johannesburg. There are direct flights from Kuala Lumpur and Miami - and no doubt other places that I don't know about. You can fly direct from New York to Joburg and there are many flights between JNB & CPT (more or less hourly in the day). It's a 2-hour flight.
Martin Jordison supplied this additional information [1995]:
All South African Airways European routes now begin and end in Cape Town: some do stop in Johannesburg en-route, others are non-stop (like London). In addition, SAA directly fly to Miami (twice weekly) as well as Bangkok and Hong Kong (once weekly) from Cape Town.
Other direct flights include:
Singapore: Singapore Airlines, twice weekly
Kuala Lumpur: Air Malaysia, three times weekly: en-route to and from Buenos Aires
Mauritius: Air Mauritius, once weekly: en-route to Bombay
Paris: Air France, twice weekly
Frankfurt: Lufthansa, three times weekly
Amsterdam: KLM, three times weekly
Zurich: Swissair, twice weekly
To be introduced later this year: Alitalia to Rome, Egyptair to Cairo, Air Zimbabwe to Harare. Qantas are mooting a direct flight to Perth and Sydney some time soon.
Internally, of course, flights to all parts of the country: including, in addition to SAA, flights on Comair, Sun Air, and Phoenix Airways. Regional and short-haul flights (eg. Cape Town - George) are served by a relatively new airline 'South African Express' which, although separate to SAA, flies in SAA livery.
A twice weekly direct flight to Sun City (Sun Air) and once weekly to Swaziland (Royal Air Swazi) also exist.
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Should you be unfortunate enough to suffer an accident, Groote Schuur hospital has a world-wide reputation. Its new building (near the University) compares with the best in Europe and North America. But all medical insurance in SA is private, so you'll need travel insurance.
You will find SA to be a land of great contrasts, both geographical and social. It is both a first-world and a third-world country simultaneously. Poverty exists side-by-side with luxury. Over the last few years, there have been tremendous political and social changes, and I have no doubt that they will not be the last.
Philip Hazel
ph10@cus.cam.ac.uk
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| Copyright © - "Philip Hazel" |
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