Will this travel adapter that supports "more than 150 countries" work in South Africa?
I have an Insten Universal World Wide Travel Charger Adapter Plug that I've used in Europe a few times. I'm going to South Africa this summer (mainly staying in Johannesburg and Cape Town), and it hit me all of a sudden that they probably have a different plug type. The power adapter I linked to does not appear to have a plug for South Africa, but the description says that it supports Africa and "more than 150 countries". The questions on the product page seem to be mixed, with some saying it does not work and some saying it does. My questions are:
Has anyone used this adapter in South Africa successfully?
If not, do the major cities have outlets for other countries (US, UK, Europe)?
If not, can you recommend a good adapter (doesn't need to have USB ports or anything fancy)?
Best Answer
South African citizen here, making my comment into an answer.
While the "Europe" (type c) plug is not the wall socket shape, the plug is ubiquitous on appliances in ZA so Europe to ZA adapters are ubiquitous here. I probably have 10 or so scattered around my home and you could find them at pretty much any grocery/convenience store here for < 2 USD. (pick 'n pay, shoprite, checkers, spar, etc). I personally have one of these plugs and use it stacked with another adapter for the odd international plugs I have. If you were to land in ZA with one of these, you'd do fine.
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Answer 2
According to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), South Africa uses 4 types of plugs:
Type C
Used in Europe and around the world. The adapter you have supports Type C sockets via its type C plug.
Type D
Used mainly in Asia and Africa. The adapter you have does not support type D sockets.
Type M
Used in a few countries in Asia and fewer in Africa. The adapter you have does not support type M sockets.
Type N
Used only in Brazil and South Africa. The adapter you have support type N sockets via its type C plug.
The power adapter I linked to does not appear to have a plug for South Africa, but the description says that it supports Africa and "more than 150 countries". The questions on the product page seem to be mixed, with some saying it does not work and some saying it does.
Well, as you can see, South Africa does share common sockets with a plug that is available in your adapter - type C. This might be the reason for the mixed accounts. I don't know how widespread each of these plugs are, see the comments for more info on this.
can you recommend a good adapter (doesn't need to have USB ports or anything fancy)?
WikiConnections suggests this one:
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