How To Tip In South Africa Like A Local

South African Money There’s always a bit of confusion about the appropriate tipping etiquette when you’re holidaying in a new country. Not knowing who to tip, how much and when can leave you feeling awkward, and you might run the risk of offending those you really don’t mean to.

If you’re holidaying in South Africa, here are a few guidelines to help you out.

Restaurants
The minimum tipping standard is ten per cent of your bill, although anything upwards of 15 per cent is normal. This is just a basic tipping amount, so if your service was above and beyond you may want to consider tipping more. Just be aware that in many restaurants, a surcharge is added to bills of large groups. In which case it’s not necessary to include a tip – unless you want to reward excellent service or if the surcharge is less than ten per cent.

It will usually indicate if that’s going to be the case somewhere on the menu, but as it’s not always easy to spot, you may want to enquire about it if your party is larger than six persons.

Petrol Attendants
Petrol stations in South Africa are not self-servicing. You will be attended to by a petrol jockey who besides filling your tank, will likely also wash your windows, check your oil and water, and pump your tires. A silver coin tip (R2 or R5) is acceptable, especially if your attendant performed these additional services.

Bartender
This depends on whether you are paying at the bar are putting drinks on tab. For single drink orders, a silver coin tip should be enough. On a tab, however, the same rules apply as for an eating bill.

Car Guards
Public parking areas very often are watched over by car guards. Sometimes they’re official, and sometimes they informally offer their services. You don’t have to tip them unless you agree to have your car watched. You’ll often be grateful for their services though, because South Africa has its issues with crime in some areas. How much you pay is up to you. For short parking stays a silver coin tip may be sufficient, while you may want to consider paying more for longer stays, especially in dangerous areas at night.

Porters
For help with your luggage in airports, trains or hotels, a tip of about R3 to R5 per bag is customary.

Hairdressers
A tip of about R10 is usually given to the person who washed your hair, and a ten per cent tip can be given to your stylist.

Newspaper Vendors
People selling newspapers on the side of the road can be tipped as well. It need not be a lot, just round up the price and don’t take back your change.

More Tipping Advice
Finally, when tipping, generally it’s not polite to ask for change. The exception of course being with restaurant bills, where you usually have the option of writing down how much change you would like back. If you’re paying by card, always specify to your waitron beforehand how much you are tipping, because you won’t be able to give your tip after the card has been swiped, unless you swipe again or have spare cash on you. For other situations it’s useful to always keep a collection of silver coins in your bag in your car to hand out as where needed.

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Queenie Bates is a writer and researcher based in Cape Town. She used to work in the service industry herself, particularly in hotels in Cape Town Waterfront, and so for a long time lived in on very little besides tips.