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Feeling Homesick

In today’s world most of us have apps that we use to chat with family back home. But not all our relatives, especially the older ones use smartphones. They still use landlines or a basic mobile phone. There are some affordable option to phone landlines or mobile phones in South Africa The most popular is probably Skype. You can buy Skype credit or a subscription for specific regions, with some packages including unlimited calls Other options include:
  • German landline to SA landline
  • Lycamobile – Lycamobile is a British mobile virtual network operator operating in 23 countries
  • Mobile VOIP – With MobileVOIP you can make cheap voip calls from your mobile phone.
  • Airalo E-Sim
  • Fraenk E-sim
  • Rebtel – With Rebtel, you can use any kind of phone to call any kind of phone, anywhere in the world.
  • Telmy – telmy is for customers of any cell phone or conventional telephone networks who are searching for unlimited low priced telephone communication
  • Voipstunt – VoipStunt is a free program that uses the latest technology to bring free and high-quality voice communications to people all over the world. When you use the free VoipStunt software, you can call regular phones in various popular destinations for free or call at an incredible low rate to any other phone on the planet.
  • Lebara – We make it much easier for migrant communities to stay connected to family and friends back home.
  • Mytello – Mit mytello super günstig vom eigenen Handy oder Festnetz ins Ausland telefonieren. Kein Vertragswechsel, keine Grundgebühr und keine versteckten Kosten.

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We all miss familiar products we loved in South Africa.
Some of these you can buy here in Germany, and for some, you will have to find a suitable substitute. 

The following shops sell South African Food/Grocery items

Sonja Kohlöffel – Gem Squash

Gem Squash tastes just like home Postal orders 6kg total cost for postage and packaging is 20€ Collections in either Ulm or Bad Waldsee cost

Outer Africa

Restaurant and shop Here you will find the best of what the amazing and intriguing continent of Africa has to offer – in particular from

SA Food Store

Bringing you the taste of South Africa. We deliver anywhere in Europe Some of our products include: Ouma Rusks Tennis Biscuits Salticrax Zoo Biscuits Peppadews

Saffa Shop

A variety of South African products Home made biltong, boerewors, droëwors and chilli bites. Lamb chops. Maize Meal and Samp Maltabella, Jungle Oats, Kreemymeelm and

Die Spens

Die Spens shop is situated next to the A1 in Amersfoort, easily reachable from all over The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Come and have a

Search our market place

You can use the search function on our Listings (Market place) page to search by name, product or location.  
Red espresso can be bought at http://de.redespresso.com/, or see Klein Karoo on our Listings page

South African wines

SA Wines can be bought in most shops like Rewe and Edeka. For bigger selections, buy online.

The following Wine shops are listed on our website

Capewineland

Capewineland was taken over by us in March 2022 out of love and passion for South Africa. As a South African family in the Rhineland,

Schalkenbosch Weine

Our company Schalkenbosch Weinvertrieb GmbH & Co. KG is located at Reutlingen which is 30 km south of Stuttgart and 200 km west of Munich. With

The Blue Heron Wine Shop

The Blue Heron has just landed in your neighbourhood! Nested in the beautiful city of Munich, The Blue Heron Wine Shop offers an exclusive range

Intra Wine and Spirits

We offer an online shop as well as a tasting venue and Vinotek called Stellenbosch Open Wine and Spirits in Ingolstadt You will find a

Clothing, Home Decor and Gifts

We have a big selection of shops selling SA-branded items. Have a look under the clothing, Home decor and gifts categories on our Listings (Market place) page.

The following shops sell SA-branded items via 3rd party shops and are therefore not listed on our website.

  • Affikaap for hoodies, cute bumper stickers with wording like “Wil jy braai?”
  • Kiwistar for bumper stickers

British Shops

Many British shops sell products that we know and love, and they deliver in Germany.

Beauty products

Many of our favourite beauty products are not available in Germany.
Online shops like Flaconi, Hagel-shop and Douglas have a great beauty range if you look for alternatives. 
I have seen Bio-Oil in Rewe.
You can find Charlotte Rhys products (based in Cape Town) at Douglas.

The following products can be bought online:

  • Johson’s baby products
  • Savlon
  • Dettol – the Dettol brand is sold under the name Sagrotan, although the Dettol Antiseptic Liquid can only be found online
  • Germolene Antiseptic Cream
  • Annique
  • Africology

Product Substitutes

Product Substitutes

Most products we know in South Africa are available in Germany, but unfortunately not all of them. Here is a list of product substitutes  for some of them.  I you would like more information about where to buy South African products in Germany, see our Products we love page.

Your best option to legally watch South African products is to get a subscription to Showmax or Netflix. 

Showmax Unfortunately Showmax will only be available outside of South Africa until 1 December 2023. We will keep you updated if there are any alternatives
Netflix You might find some South African content

VPNs and  DStv

Although it is possible to watch DStv in Germany, it is not recommended.
Please read the warning below. If you have to use a VPN to watch something you can be pretty sure it was not licenced in Germany.

Watching sports

Cricket Worldcup 2023 The Match schedule is available on the CricketWorldCup.com website Watching your favourite sports on Television can be a challenge in Germany.  It is very tempting to use a VPN to watch the games on DSTV, but we strongly advice against it. Germany has stringent copyright laws.Do not violate copyright laws by illegally downloading a film, music, or other web content.  You can get

Television Licenses

Television Licence (der Rundfunkbeitrag/GEZ-Gebühr) The first thing you are likely to get in your new mailbox after registering at the Bürgeramt is a reminder to pay your TV & radio broadcasting fees. The 2023 fees are €18.36 per month and can be paid quarterly  (€55.08) or €220.32 per yearThe fee is mandatory.  Every household in Germany has to pay the fee even if you do not own

Warning!!

VPN’s are legal in Germany, but infringing on copyright and accessing content that should not be available can result in legal action. Copyrights are governed by GEMA – “The Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA; English: Society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights) is a government-mandated collecting society and performance rights organization based in Germany.”
This means if you want to watch a South African program but it has no license to air in Germany, and GEMA does not earn their fees, it would be considered illegal.

Info on the web

Related content

Internet TV and mobile

Internet, mobile and television packages are usually sold as a bundle. Fibre is available in most big cities but not in remote towns.  Legal After registering

Radio Stations and Playlists

Most South African radio stations have a streaming option, another option is to download apps with a selection of radio stations. Here are some suggestions

Phoning Home

In today’s world most of us have apps that we use to chat with family back home. But not all our relatives, especially the older