I was told obtaining visa to leave was difficult, but they may have been talking about leaving with assets.
The rules to transfer assets out of South Africa appear complex.
South Africans are not allowed to leave with more than 25,000 rand ($1,722) or 160,000 with prior special arrangements ($11,020)
That seems to be pretty tight controls.
Getting money to a foreign bank is not all that complicated.
The only complication is you got to have money.