Journey — Tshwane WUDC 2028

Landing in South Africa

From the airport to Hatfield

Upon arrival at O.R. Tambo International Airport, participants travel the 45–60 minute run to Pretoria via the Gautrain, a modern, reliable rapid-transit rail system. Volunteers will be on hand at arrivals with vouchers for the trip, and the organising committee covers participant transport for the entire duration of the tournament — venue-hotel and social shuttles included.

Visas

One of the world’s more forgiving visa regimes

Visas remain one of the biggest barriers to equal access at WUDC. South Africa’s regime is unusually favourable: a large share of the global debating community can enter visa-free for 90 or 30 days, or via a roughly $25 eVisa. Where a visa is still required, South Africa’s 124 diplomatic missions across 100+ countries give participants a local point of contact almost everywhere — placing the country around 30th globally by number of missions.

A dedicated Visa Committee — the Convenor, a Chief Adjudicator, and a named Org Comm member — is opening a standing visa-support inbox and working ahead of time to define country-specific processes. At our most recent PAUDC, this same team delivered a 100% visa success rate: every participant who applied with our support was granted a visa.

Visa policy at a glance

90 days visa-free

Most of the EU, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, most of the Southern African region, and more.

30 days visa-free

Including Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Malawi, Mauritius, Peru, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey.

ETA / eVisa

China, India, Indonesia and Mexico apply online for ETA. Many other visa-required nationalities can use the official eVisa portal.

Missions worldwide

124 embassies & high commissions across 100+ countries.

Visa checker

Do I need a visa for South Africa?

Type the country on your passport. We will tell you whether ordinary passport holders can enter visa-free, and if not, where to apply and get more information.

Sample flight costs (USD, return)

Estimated from SkyScanner, Kayak & Google Flights

Nairobi

$300 – $500

Dar es Salaam

$450 – $700

Accra / Lagos

$500 – $800

Dubai

$500 – $800

Windhoek

$150 – $300

Kigali

$350 – $650

London

$600 – $900

Mumbai

$600 – $900

Bangkok

$800 – $1,100

New York

$900 – $1,300

São Paulo

$800 – $1,200

Sydney

$1,200 – $1,700

Accommodation

Four hotels, one high street

All within a few minutes of the Humanities Building and each other, on a high street of restaurants, grocers, and pharmacies, and within 15 minutes of Netcare Jakaranda Hospital. Rooms are double-shared, with breakfast included.

★★★★

ANEW Hotel Hatfield

0.7 km · 8 min walk

★★★★

Garden Court Hatfield

3.0 km · 7 min drive

★★★

Protea Hotel Pretoria Hatfield

2.1 km · 5 min drive

★★★

City Lodge Hotel Hatfield

2.1 km · 5 min drive

Map of hotels relative to the Humanities Building and Hatfield Gautrain station