Johannesburg Travel Tips: Get Around Safely

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The one thing to internalize first: Johannesburg has real violent-crime risk, armed robbery, carjacking, and smash-and-grabs at traffic lights among the specific patterns to know, but it is a heavily-visited, rewarding city, not a place to avoid. Book cars rather than walk, keep nothing visible in the vehicle, stay alert at intersections, and see Soweto and the inner city guided rather than solo. Check your own government’s current travel advisory before you go.

  1. Book cars, don’t hail them off the street. Uber and Bolt are the default; the Gautrain covers OR Tambo, Sandton, and Pretoria safely and quickly.
  2. Lock the doors and stay alert at red lights. Smash-and-grab theft at intersections is the specific, well-documented pattern locals warn visitors about.
  3. Keep valuables out of sight, always. Nothing on the passenger seat, no phone held up while walking outdoors downtown.
  4. See Soweto and the inner city on a guided tour. This applies to Vilakazi Street, the Hector Pieterson Memorial, and most of Maboneng and Newtown after dark.
  5. The currency is the South African rand (ZAR, R). Roughly R16-18 to the US dollar (verify current rate); card payment is widely accepted in Sandton and Rosebank.
  6. Most nationalities are visa-free for up to 90 days. This covers the US, UK, and EU (verify for your passport); South Africa also began rolling out an Electronic Travel Authorisation on 12 August 2026, still expanding, so check the current requirement.
  7. Johannesburg and the Highveld, including Pilanesberg, are malaria-free. Only the lowveld around Kruger, a longer trip out, needs antimalarials.
  8. Tap water is generally safe to drink in Joburg (verify locally). One less bottle to buy, though bottled water is cheap and widely available if you’d rather not risk it.
  9. Handle apartheid-era sites with care. The Apartheid Museum and Hector Pieterson Memorial cover real, recent history solemnly; treat them as such rather than as photo stops.

Book ahead: a guided Soweto tour and an airport transfer are the two bookings that make the biggest safety difference before you even land.

Is Johannesburg the capital of South Africa?

No. South Africa has three capitals, Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial); Johannesburg is none of them, though it’s the country’s economic hub and the usual gateway for a wider southern Africa trip.

For a full plan around these tips, see our Johannesburg guide or one of our Johannesburg itineraries .

One concrete tip: load the Gautrain and Uber or Bolt apps before you land, not after, so day one doesn’t start with setting up transport from an unfamiliar airport.

Further reading: US State Dept South Africa advisory , UK FCDO South Africa advice .