Sending sterling cheques to South Africa?

It could have a delay in clearing the cheque in SA. Banks in SA (as in other parts of the world) today are very wary of money laundering activities, so they will often require additional detail from the depositor before they clear/release the funds to the account holder. This is now due to increased government regulation. It may work if you include a cover letter and some other detail showing that this was a payout from a deceased estate.

As an alternative, check with your bank in the UK if there is the opportunity to send an electronic transfer, or if the bank draft will work.

I have a bank account in the UK and I sometimes write myself a cheque if I want to use the money in South Africa. Basically I go to the International section of Absa bank. Not all Absa's have them. They then post the cheque to the bank in the UK. Once the cheque clears they then proceed to pay the money in my SA bank account.

If I was lucky enough to have enough money in my SA bank account then they would have cleared the cheque immediately with the understanding that should the cheque bounce they will take the money from my account again.

Basically, It's a big pain to try and cash a foreign cheque but it is possible.

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It is spelled "check"