Foreign Embassies in South Africa
Whether you are from another country and are visiting South Africa or you are from South Africa and you wish to visit another country, the various embassies and consulates located around the country will prove to be most valuable to you. Though an embassy is primarily a diplomatic building where ambassadors work and sometimes live, they perform many important functions relating to travel and legal documentation which is absolutely essential for the global traveler. Of course, embassies are usually also involved with maintaining good relations in the country in which they are located as well as in understanding and reporting local policies, views and customs to their home country. In this way, embassies perform the ever-crucial function of maintaining a high level of understanding and excellent diplomatic relations between two countries.
This is beneficial to the average man on the street in more than one way. For starters, if you wish to travel to a particular country, you can obtain all the necessary information needed to enjoy a successful trip from the relevant embassy. The embassy will tell you what languages are spoken, what laws will apply to you and what sort of paperwork you will be expected to carry. They can also grant you access to their country and often times will provide you with some of the paperwork themselves. Secondly, if you are from another country, an embassy will be able to provide assistance by keeping you informed about local customs which may affect you during your travels. They will be able to tell you what paperwork the country requires that you carry and, should you loose any important documents, they will usually be able to arrange a temporary document or a permanent replacement for you. The relevant embassy can also serve to protect their citizens from adverse circumstances which may arise while that person is visiting the country.
As you can imagine, the importance of well-established embassies in a country can never be underestimated. South Africa is fortunate enough to have embassies representing most countries around the globe. The majority of these embassies in South Africa are located in Pretoria or Cape Town with a number of consulates or other related branches located in most major cities around the country. This section on embassies has been designed to help you contact the relevant authorities more easily. We hope that it proves to be most helpful.