Alcohol / Spirits 🇿🇦 South Africa
1L spirits + 2L wine duty-free
Can I bring Alcohol / Spirits into South Africa?
1L spirits + 2L wine duty-free
1L spirits + 2L wine
- SARS Customs declaration for quantities above duty-free allowance
Required at the destination customs authority
Full details
Travelers aged 18+ may bring 1 litre of spirits and 2 litres of wine duty-free into South Africa. Quantities above attract SARS Customs duty (currently ZAR 7.91 per litre of absolute alcohol for spirits) plus 15% VAT. The Red Channel at OR Tambo / Cape Town / King Shaka handles declarations; commercial-quantity imports require a SARS Excise Importer's Permit. Foreign-bottled spirits over 25 years aged trigger SAHPRA spirit-traceability scrutiny.
PENALTIES
- Fine: 500–500000 ZAR
- Civil penalty only
Occasional — Enforcement reported intermittently.
Leaving South Africa with alcohol / spirits
Spirits for personal consumption are freely exportable from South Africa — excise duty is origin-paid on retail purchases and no export formality applies at personal quantities. The binding constraint is the destination's duty-free allowance (typically 1 litre of spirits) above which arrival duty applies, and aviation rules: liquids over 100 ml must travel in checked baggage or as sealed duty-free purchases, and alcohol over 70% ABV is forbidden on aircraft entirely (24-70% ABV is capped at 5 litres per passenger in retail packaging).
Per person: no more than 1 L in total of spirits and other alcoholic beverages, no more than 2 L of wine, and no more than 200 cigarettes and 20 cigars. New or used goods in accompanied baggage up to R5,000 (R25,000 if arriving from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia or Eswatini). Crew members are limited to R700. USD equivalent approximate.
Standard duty-free allowance applies (typically 1L spirits + 1-2L wine + beer). Declare any quantity above; excise + 15% VAT computed at South African Revenue Service (SARS) — Customs and Excise Red Channel. Bring purchase receipts.
1L spirits + 2L wine
- SARS Customs declaration for quantities above duty-free allowance
Customs and Excise Act 91 of 1964
This page covers destination customs rules in South Africa. Whether you can carry alcohol / spirits through security, in carry-on, or in checked baggage depends on airline and screening rules — see air travel rules.
Alcohol / Spirits is classified under Class 3 — Flammable liquids. Cabin and checked-baggage rules apply on top of any destination regulation.
Alcohol / Spirits rules in other countries
Alcohol / Spirits
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
Completely prohibited. Zero tolerance under Islamic law.
Alcohol / Spirits
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
Non-Muslim adults may import 4 litres of spirits or wine duty-free via most emirates.
Alcohol / Spirits
🇲🇾 Malaysia
1 liter duty-free allowance
Alcohol / Spirits
🇮🇩 Indonesia
1 liter duty-free; heavily taxed beyond
Alcohol / Spirits
🇰🇷 South Korea
1 liter (under USD 400) duty-free
Alcohol / Spirits
🇫🇷 France
EU standard allowances from non-EU; unlimited within EU