Large shopping centres are to be found across the country's cities and towns, where everything from giant chain stores to small specialty boutiques sell all you could possible want.
when shopkeepers don't have shops, they take to the streets: hawkers and craftspeople ply their wares at traffic intersections, minibus taxi ranks, along major thoroughfares and on inner city pavements, selling everything from sweets and fruit to elaborate sculptures and home furnishings.
South Africa's rural areas are dotted with farm stalls, arts and crafts markets and more.
The first choice would be local arts and crafts.
Wire sculptures are a feature of the streets of all our cities, but this art is best represented in the Eastern Cape, near the town of Cradock.
you'll find windmills up to two metres tall made from wire and scrap, such as food tins and old aerosol cans.
At craft centres and roadside stalls all over the country you'll find fantastic pots, basketware, beadwork, embroidery and carvings.