Quote:
"[Q] Will the Echo Dot work abroad?
[A] The Alexa voice service and the Echo will not work fully outside of the market regions where it is a released product. The Echo is currently designed to work only in the UK with Amazon.co.uk and in the US with Amazon.com personal accounts. There is some level of localization and many of the skills are regionally specific. Do not think this will work if at all well abroad. Before these were released in the UK they were available in the US for over a year.. Some People bought them and brought them home to UK.. However they did and do experience problems. One being that they require US based Amazon accounts to operate and the Alexa skills and localization aspects remain US based and mostly relevant to US consumers.. I image that would be the same problems in anywhere not released . If there is a Amazon marketplace presence in your region I would suggest discussing with them"
Source:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ask/questions/Tx2MIR3CYIZNX6A
As Amazon doesn't currently have a presence in South Africa, I suspect that the Amazon Echo Dot would have very limited functionality in that country.