Key takeaways
- For South African exchange control you are not a non-resident: the Reserve Bank's manual defines one as a person whose normal residence, domicile or registration is outside the Common Monetary Area (CMA) of South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia and eSwatini, and rand investments and transfers between CMA countries need no Reserve Bank approval.
- Your own country's rules apply too, and they are drawn around the edge of the CMA: the Bank of Namibia needs no approval for Namibia dollar investments elsewhere in the CMA but bars buying into a CMA asset through an offshore "loop structure", and Lesotho's and eSwatini's rules control capital leaving the CMA. Register your shares at an address inside the CMA.
- Tax is separate. South Africa's 20% dividends tax is capped by treaty at 5% (a Namibian company holding at least 25%) or 15% for Namibia, 10% (a company holding at least 10% throughout a 365-day period that includes the payment date) or 15% for Lesotho, and 10% (a company holding at least 25%) or 15% for eSwatini.
- The Namibia dollar, loti and lilangeni are pegged one to one to the rand, and the rand is legal tender in all three countries. Low-value transfers between CMA countries have been treated as cross-border since 30 September 2024, so allow time for payments. Our auctions run in rand.
- Home Affairs exempts ordinary passport holders from Namibia and Lesotho from visas for up to 90 days, and from eSwatini for 30. To live here and run the business you need a visa that allows it, such as the business visa.
Why the Common Monetary Area changes the answer
South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia and eSwatini form the Common Monetary Area (CMA). The South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) Currency and Exchanges Manual for Authorised Dealers (version of 5 October 2026) defines a non-resident as a person or company "whose normal place of residence, domicile or registration is outside the CMA" (section A.1).
If you live in Windhoek, Maseru or Mbabane, or your company is registered there, you are not a non-resident. The Manual says exchange control within the CMA "is governed by the Multilateral Monetary Agreement", and that Lesotho, Namibia and eSwatini "have their own monetary authorities as well as their own legislation" (A.3(E)(i) and (ii)). So two sets of rules apply to you: South Africa's, and your own country's.
The test is where you normally live, not your passport: a Namibian whose home is in London is a non-resident and should follow our exchange control guide for foreign investors. So should a buyer in Botswana or Zimbabwe, neither of which is in the CMA (A.1); Botswana shares the Southern African Customs Union with them, but that is a customs union for goods, not a currency union (SARS: SACU). The rules for every buyer are in buying a business in South Africa as a foreigner.
What South African exchange control asks of you
Three lines in the SARB manual do most of the work:
- No Reserve Bank approval for rand flows. "Investments and transfers of funds in Rand from/to South Africa to/from other CMA countries do not require the approval of the Financial Surveillance Department" (A.3(E)(iv)).
- Foreign currency goes through your own bank. South African banks "may not enter into foreign exchange transactions with residents of other CMA countries" and refer them to their bankers at home, with narrow exceptions (A.3(E)(vi) and (viii)).
- A rand account here is a resident account. The Manual's definition of a resident account includes "that of a CMA resident" (A.1).
The share register, and buying through another company
"A resident of the CMA may not register an address outside the CMA and any securities currently held at an address outside the CMA are subject to immediate tainting by endorsement" (G(F)(i)(b)), so register your shares at an address in the CMA. If you plan to hold them through a company registered outside the CMA, that company is a non-resident, shares with a non-resident interest "of any nature whatsoever" are endorsed "Non-Resident" (G(F)(i)(a)), and your own country's rules may not allow the structure at all (next section).
Borrowing here
The Manual's local borrowing rules (section I.1) cover non-residents and "affected persons": companies operating in South Africa that are 75% or more owned or controlled by "any person who is not resident in South Africa" (A.1), a wider phrase than "non-resident". For an affected person, borrowing locally for "financial transactions", which include "the purchase and sale of any securities (listed or unlisted)", is limited to R1 for every R1 introduced (I.1(D)). Ask the lending bank how this applies to your company. Draft regulations to replace these rules were published on 17 April 2026 (National Treasury); the current rules apply until they are final.
Your own country's exchange control
Each of the other three countries has its own exchange control law, applied by your bank at home, and all three are drawn around the edge of the CMA rather than the border with South Africa.
- Namibia. The Bank of Namibia's Currency and Exchanges Guidelines for Individuals (version 1.0, 28 September 2018) say that "Investments and transfers of funds in Namibia Dollars from/to Namibia to/from other CMA countries do not require the approval of the Exchange Control and Legal Services Department" (section 8.1). The separate offshore allowance (section 3.6) is for foreign currency invested outside the CMA. Individuals may not use it "or any other authorised foreign assets" to "directly or indirectly acquire shares or some other interests in a CMA asset (i.e. through a 'loop structure')" (section 3.6.2). So buy directly from Namibia, or ask your bank before you use a company outside the CMA. Registering a securities address outside the CMA also needs approval (section 3.9). A Namibian company should ask its bank.
- Lesotho. The Central Bank of Lesotho's legislation page lists the Exchange Control Order, 1987 and the Exchange Control Regulations, 1989 (Legal Notice 175 of 1989). These define "foreign currency" as "any currency which is not legal tender in Lesotho" (regulation 2), and the rand is legal tender there (next section). Without the Minister's permission, no one may "enter into any transaction whereby capital or any right to capital is directly or indirectly exported from the Common Monetary Area" (regulation 11(1)(c)), so ask your bank before you use a company outside the CMA to buy.
- eSwatini. The Central Bank of Eswatini administers the Exchange Control Order, 1974 and the Regulations under Legal Notice 2 of 1975 (Financial Surveillance). Its simple guide to exchange control (revised February 2005, and warning that it "may not be up to date") describes "an unfettered flow of funds" between the four countries, which "form a single exchange control territory", while residents may not, without authorisation, "take or send out of the Common Monetary Area any bank notes, gold, securities or foreign currency" (sections 2 and 4).
Paying in rand: the currencies and the banking
Each of the three currencies is pegged one to one to the rand, and the rand is legal tender alongside it:
- Namibia dollar. Legal tender in Namibia is the "Namibia Dollar and Rand" (Bank of Namibia), whose Monetary Policy Committee set policy on 3 December 2025 with a view to "safeguarding the one-to-one link" (statement).
- Loti (plural maloti). "Pegged one is to one with the South African Rand" (Central Bank of Lesotho), and the rand "is a legal tender in Lesotho" (press release, 14 April 2023).
- Lilangeni (plural emalangeni). "At par with the South African Rand" since 1974, with the rand "accepted as legal tender in the country" (Central Bank of Eswatini).
Low-value payments between CMA countries are now cross-border
Since 30 September 2024, low-value electronic transfers, debit and credit payments between the CMA countries have been treated as cross-border transactions, "subject to greater due diligence requirements", processed through the regional SADC-RTGS system, which is "primarily used for high-value payments". Debit orders on an account in another CMA country must now be initiated from an account in that country (SARB media release, 26 July 2024).
eSwatini has set out the next step: its central bank's CMA EFT Payments Directive No. 1 of 2025, in force from 31 March 2025, treats a cross-border transfer of up to E5 million as low-value, and requires payment providers to move low-value CMA transfers off SADC-RTGS onto the Transactions Cleared on an Immediate Basis (TCIB) scheme by 31 March 2027.
Pay the deposit and the price from an account in your own name, or your buying company's, ask your bank how long the payment takes, and keep its confirmation. If the business collects debit orders from customers elsewhere in the CMA, check how it does so now.
Tax: the three treaties compared
Living in the CMA does not take you out of South Africa's dividends tax; your country's tax treaty reduces it. The rates below are the most South Africa may charge a beneficial owner resident there, from the treaty texts on SARS's list of agreements.
| Treaty point | Namibia | Lesotho | eSwatini |
|---|---|---|---|
| In force | 11 April 1999 | 27 May 2016 | 8 February 2005 |
| Dividends, company shareholder | 5% if it holds at least 25% of the capital (Article 10(2)(a)) | 10% if it holds at least 10% (Article 10(2)(a)) throughout a 365-day period that includes the payment date (see below) | 10% if it holds at least 25% (Article 10(2)(a)) |
| Dividends, all others | 15% (Article 10(2)(b)) | 15% (Article 10(2)(b)) | 15% (Article 10(2)(b)) |
| Interest and royalties | 10% each (Articles 11(2), 12(2)) | 10% each (Articles 11(2), 12(2)), subject to the Protocol (below) | 10% each (Articles 11(2), 12(2)) |
| Gains on shares in a land-rich company | No separate rule (Article 13) | South Africa may tax if more than 50% of the shares' value came from South African immovable property at any time in the 365 days before the sale | South Africa may tax if the company's property is "directly or indirectly principally" South African immovable property (Article 14(4)) |
The last row says only what the treaty allows South Africa to tax; South African law decides whether it does (below). Lesotho's Protocol adds that if Lesotho later agrees a lower rate on interest, royalties or technical fees with another state, "Lesotho agrees that such lower rate shall apply to this Agreement" (paragraph 1): ask your tax adviser whether that has happened.
Without a treaty, dividends tax is 20% on dividends paid on or after 22 February 2017 (SARS: dividends tax), and interest paid to a non-resident has attracted 15% withholding tax since 1 March 2015 (SARS: interest). SARS's summary of treaty dividend rates (June 2023) agrees on the rates but predates Lesotho's holding period. The company withholds the lower rate only with your declaration in hand: see taking dividends home.
The multilateral instrument: Lesotho now, eSwatini perhaps later
Lesotho has ratified the OECD's Multilateral Instrument (MLI), which amends its agreement with South Africa from 1 January 2023 for withholding taxes (such as dividends tax) and for taxable periods beginning on or after 1 July 2023 for other taxes (SARS: MLI). SARS's synthesised text (not itself law) shows three changes: the 10% dividend rate needs the holding "throughout a 365 day period that includes the day of the payment" (MLI Article 8); the land-rich share rule in the table replaces Article 14(4) (MLI Article 9(4)); and treaty benefits are denied where obtaining them was one of the principal purposes of an arrangement (MLI Article 7).
Namibia (30 September 2021) and eSwatini (27 September 2023) have signed the MLI but not ratified it, so it does not yet change their agreements (OECD list of signatories and parties, status at 15 September 2026). eSwatini's MLI position lists its South African agreement, including the dividend article (10(2)(a)) and the land-rich share rule (14(4)): check its status before relying on the eSwatini terms.
Selling later, and relief at home
South African law taxes a non-resident's gain on shares only if 80% or more of their value comes from South African immovable property and the seller, with connected persons, holds at least 20% (SARS CGT guide, chapter 4). The Namibian agreement lets South Africa tax gains on "immovable property referred to in Article 6" (Article 13(1)) and leaves other gains to the seller's country (Article 13(4)); how land-rich shares fit is a question for your advisers.
For relief at home, Namibia deducts South African tax from Namibian tax on the same income, within a proportional cap (Article 23); Lesotho allows a credit, subject to its own law (Article 23(1)); eSwatini allows a credit capped at its average rate of income tax on that income (Article 22(1)(b)). Relief only matters where your own country taxes that income at all. This is general information: take advice from a tax adviser in South Africa and one at home.
Visiting, and moving to run the business
Home Affairs' list of visa-exempt countries, "Issued on 09 December 2025", covers all three (DHA: exempt countries). For ordinary passports:
- Namibia: 90 days a year ("90 Days P/A").
- Lesotho: 90 days.
- eSwatini: 30 days.
Home Affairs lists "business purposes" among the reasons a visitor's visa is granted (DHA: visas); whether a particular activity is a visit or work is for an immigration practitioner. To live here and run the business yourself you need a visa that allows it, usually the business visa: see the business visa for investors. Cabinet approved a Revised White Paper on immigration in April 2026; the current rules apply until the law changes (SAnews, 8 April 2026).
For Lesotho nationals, the 2019 Lesotho Exemption Permit let holders "work/ study and/or conduct business", but only people who already held the earlier Lesotho Special Permit could get it, and it expired on 31 December 2023 (DHA). A directive then extended existing exemption permits from 29 November 2023 to 29 November 2024 so that holders could apply for new ones (GN 4141, GG 49813, 4 December 2023). Neither was a route for a new buyer.
Working with Dynamic from Windhoek, Maseru or Mbabane
Our only office is in Centurion, Gauteng, open Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 17:00 South African Standard Time (SAST, UTC+2). Namibia's standard time has been set by law at "two hours in advance of the Greenwich Mean Time" since 24 October 2017 (Namibian Time Act 9 of 2017, section 1), the same as ours.
Tell us what you are looking for by email at info@dynamicauctioneers.co.za or on WhatsApp at +27 84 702 3766, or browse the businesses for sale. You show proof of funds before you see the books, so settle with your bank at home by then how the money will reach South Africa. Online and webcast auctions can be bid on from wherever you are (how to register and bid online), in South African rand. Our page for international buyers covers the rest.