South Africa
In South Africa you can apply for a Police clearance certificate at your local police station.
The process can take up to six months.
The official documentation you can find at the South African Police Service.
They have an online application form available.
If you are already outside of South Africa, you can do the following:
“Applicants living abroad may forward the application and required documents directly to CR & CSM for processing. Applications received from abroad will not be returned to the applicant.
The applicant must monitor progress via the SAPS website and upon completion arrange for collection as indicated on the application form.
For security purposes the certificate will only be handed over to the person nominated by the applicant or chosen courier service. Note that certificates not collected within three months after finalisation will be destroyed.”
The following companies are recommended by our Facebook members and can assist you with obtaining a police clearance certificate:
Apostil
Get South African apostilles, police clearances, birth/marriage certificates, legalisations and much more quickly and efficiently through our legal service. We have helped thousands of people obtain and authenticate South African documents. Apostilles Police Clearance Home Affairs
Doc Assist
Doc Assist offers assistance with the following services: Unabridged, documentation – Marriage/Birth/Death certificates Police Clearance Certificates Letter of no impediment (your marital status) Retention of citizenship letter from Home Affairs Legalisation / Verification  / Authentication / Apostille
Germany
A similar document can be obtained in Germany. It is called das Führungszeugnis.
This is basically a certificate of good conduct for the time you are in Germany
You need to apply for this at your local Towns office /Bürgeramt, although in some towns it must be done at the Rathaus. The best would be to just search for Führungszeugnis and your town’s name e.g Führungszeugnis Leinfelden.
To qualify for this document you need to be regsitered at the Bürgeramt and live in Germany.
Many companies will ask for a Führungszeugnis  before they make you a job offer.
When looking for a place to rent, you might be asked for a Führungszeugnis as well as a Schuffa (Credit report)
Online option:
Ihr Online-Wegweiser zu Ihrem Führungszeugnis
More information from the Federal office of justice
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