There are several greeting styles in South Africa depending the ethnic heritage of the person you are meeting. When dealing with foreigners, most South Africans shake hands while maintaining eye contact and smiling. Some women do not shake hands and merely nod their head, so it is best to wait for a woman to extend her hand. Men may kiss a woman they know well on the cheek in place of a handshake.
Greetings are leisurely and include time for social discussion and exchanging opinions. Even though many South Africans speak English, that doesn’t mean you’ll always understand us. With a lot of local slang, South African English has a flavour of its own, borrowing from Afrikaans as well as the country’s many African languages.