Open access to scholarly communication in South Africa occurs online via journals, repositories, and a variety of other tools and platforms. Compared to other African nations, open access in South Africa has grown quickly in recent years.

According to UNESCO, South Africa is a leading African country in terms of open access policies on the governmental level and grass-roots initiatives in universities and research organizations.^[1] South African signatories to the international "Open Access 2020" campaign, launched in 2016, include the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) and University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.^[2] As of January 2018, there are nine research entities with policies in the international Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies.^[3]

As of April 2018, the international Directory of Open Access Journals records some 79 open access journals produced in South Africa.^[4]

As of July 2018, the Directory of Open Access Repositories lists 39 repositories in South Africa. This includes 11 traditional universities (or at least their departments), several universities of technology (Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Durban University of Technology, Central University of Technology and Tshwane University of Technology), three comprehensive universities (University of Johannesburg, University of South Africa and University of Zululand) and Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).^[1][5]

• African Journals OnLine
• Access to information in South Africa
• Science and technology in South Africa
• List of archives in South Africa
• Open access in other countries

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0 (license statement/permission). Text taken from Global Open Access Portal​, UNESCO. UNESCO.

• Richard Poynder (30 October 2013), "Michelle Willmers on the state of Open Access: Where are we, what still needs to be done?", Open and Shut?
• Laura Czerniewicz; Sarah Goodier (2014), "Open Access in South Africa: a Case Study and Reflections" (PDF), South African Journal of Science, 110
• Pierre JT de Villiers (2014), Open Access Publishing in South Africa- 2014 (PDF), Durbanville: African Online Scientific Information Systems
• "Open Access South Africa: Starting a Student Network", Righttoresearch.org, Washington DC: Right to Research Coalition, 2014
• "Open Access in higher education in South Africa". Itwebafrica.com. 28 August 2017. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018.
• Walt Crawford (2018). "South Africa". Gold Open Access by Country 2012-2017. US: Cites & Insights Books.

• "Open Access Journals: SciELO South Africa". LibGuides. University of Fort Hare Libraries. Searchable full-text journal database
• Peter Suber (ed.). "(South Africa)". Open Access Tracking Project. Harvard University. OCLC 1040261573. News and comment from the worldwide movement for open access to research
• Open Access Week 2013 at the University of Cape Town
• "Berlin 10 Open Access Conference". 2012. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Held at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, November 7–8, 2012.
• CSIR Research Space provides access to some of the research outputs generated by CSIR scientists.
• Rhodes Digital Commons provides access to some of the research output generated by the Rhodes University community.
• SUNScholar provides access to research output from Stellenbosch University.
• UPSpace provides access to some of the research outputs generated by researchers at the University of Pretoria.
• UWC Theses Online The University of the Western Cape electronic theses and dissertations repository holds full-text theses submitted for degree purposes since 2004, with selected titles prior to 2004.
• Boloka provides access to some of the research outputs generated by researchers at the North-West University.
• http://wiki.lib.sun.ac.za/index.php/SUNScholar/Ranking/National
• "Browse by Country: Africa: South Africa". Registry of Open Access Repositories. UK.
• Open Access in South Africa, DRIVER: Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research, archived from the original on 23 August 2011
• OpenUCT provides access to full-text electronic theses and dissertations submitted for degree purposes at University of Cape Town
• ZivaHub: Open Data UCT provides open access to research data generated at University of Cape Town