Forex Trading in South Africa: Funding, MT5, Gold and Tax

How South Africans trade forex, from practising on a free KCM demo and funding a US-dollar KCM account to trading gold, forex and indices on KCM Pro or MT5 on your phone, with costs in US dollars, SAST hours and SARS tax.

KCM Academy Editorial Team
Editorial policy
Last updated 19 October 2026

Most South Africans learn the mechanics, practise on a free KCM demo, then fund a US-dollar KCM account and trade gold, forex and indices on KCM Pro or MetaTrader 5 (MT5). This guide takes each step in order, with the numbers.

It covers what South Africans search for most: how people here usually start, how to open and fund a KCM account, where to learn, what you can trade, what a trade costs, how much you need, which hours in SAST are busiest, and how SARS looks at trading income.

How do people in South Africa start trading forex?

Most start the same way: learn the mechanics, practise on a free KCM demo, then move to a live account with a small size. The steps below run from the maths of a trade to your first order, with the phone taps for Android and iPhone.

  1. Learn how a trade gains and loses. What is a CFD, leverage and margin and lots, pips and pip value cover the maths you need for every example below.
  2. Practise on a KCM demo. Register at KCM Pro, open a demo account and practise on its charts. It trades virtual money under the same conditions as a real account.
  3. Install KCM's MetaTrader 5 on your phone. The KCM MT5 download page links the app on the App Store for iPhone and on Google Play or as an APK for Android. Desktop and web steps are in install MetaTrader 5.
  4. Add the symbols you want. In the Android app, tap the Add icon at the top of Quotes, search for XAUUSD or EURUSD, and tap the symbol.
  5. Place a trade. In Quotes, tap the symbol and choose New Order, set the volume and any stop loss and take profit, then tap Buy by Market or Sell by Market. The position appears on the Trade tab. To close it on Android, press and hold it, choose Close Position and confirm; closed trades move to History. Place your first trade on MT5 covers desktop and pending orders.
  6. Read the symbol's specification. On desktop, right-click the symbol in Market Watch and choose Specification to see the contract size, digits, swap and trading hours.
  7. Fund a live KCM account and size each trade. Open and fund it as set out in the next section, then work out a lot size from your stop loss and the share of the account you set per trade, as shown in position sizing.

How do you start trading with KCM Trade in South Africa?

Register at KCM Pro, practise on a KCM demo, open an STP account, fund it, then trade live on KCM Pro's charts or in MetaTrader 5 at the sizes you practised. The STP account is held in US dollars, so gold, forex and indices are all priced, costed and settled in one currency.

  1. Register and verify at KCM Pro. Sign up at pro.kcm.trade, then verify your account in KCM Pro. Verification comes before your first trade.
  2. Practise on a KCM demo. Open a demo account in KCM Pro and practise on its charts. It trades virtual money under the same conditions as a real account, you can open as many as you like, and you set its balance in KCM Pro to what you plan to deposit.
  3. Open an STP account. Open it in KCM Pro: it starts from US$20 with no commission, and you choose leverage of up to 1:1000 on forex and gold, or 1:100 on indices, when you create the account. Larger traders can also open an ECN account from US$30,000.
  4. Fund it under Funds in KCM Pro. The payment methods for the country you registered from show there, with limits and processing times, and each deposit from South Africa lands in your US-dollar account. If you pay by bank transfer, tell your bank the payment goes under your single discretionary allowance (SDA), the route SARB Circular 6/2022 sets for online trading. KCM charges no deposit or withdrawal fee, and you withdraw by the method you deposited with.
  5. Trade on KCM Pro or MT5. Trade directly on the charts inside KCM Pro, or log in to KCM's MetaTrader 5 with the login, password and server shown in KCM Pro, and trade the sizes you practised on the demo.

Where can you learn forex trading in South Africa?

You can learn forex trading in South Africa for free online with the KCM Academy forex trading course: 16 modules and more than 70 lessons, from what forex is to risk management and MT5, with worked examples in US dollars and a demo task in almost every lesson. There is no fee and no sign-up to read it.

The course runs in three levels. Start with the Beginner level, which opens with Market Basics, then MetaTrader 5 Basics and Reading Price Charts. Paid forex trading classes in South Africa usually cover the same ground; what matters most is practice, so pair every lesson with a free forex demo account.

What can you trade from South Africa with KCM?

From South Africa you trade what every KCM client trades: gold (XAUUSD), over 40 forex pairs such as EURUSD, and indices such as US30, in a US-dollar account on KCM Pro or MT5. Profits, losses and costs all come out in dollars, so one set of numbers covers every trade.

KCM's specification tables list these figures for some of the most traded symbols:

Symbol What it tracks 1 lot is 1 pip on 1 lot
XAUUSD Spot gold in US dollars 100 ounces $10
EURUSD Euro against the US dollar 100,000 euros $10
GBPUSD British pound against the US dollar 100,000 pounds $10
US30 Dow Jones Industrial Average 10 × the index $10
US100 Nasdaq 100 20 × the index $20
US500 S&P 500 50 × the index $50

Each of these trades from 0.01 lot up to 20 lots per order. On gold, 0.01 lot is 1 ounce, so a $1 move in the gold price is worth $1 on 0.01 lot and $100 on 1 lot. KCM lists more than 200 instruments in all, with the full tables on its forex, precious metals and indices pages. Gold is covered step by step in how to trade gold, index CFDs in what are indices, and how a pair's two currencies work in currency pairs.

What does a trade cost on KCM in US dollars?

A trade on a KCM account costs the spread, plus swap on nights it stays open where swap-free status does not apply; there is no commission, so the whole cost is one dollar figure. Spread cost is the spread in pips × pip value per lot × lots.

KCM's STP spreads start from 1.2 pips on EURUSD, and on XAUUSD from 1.6 pips. At those spreads, with no commission:

Trade Pip value Spread cost Commission
0.10 lot EURUSD $1 a pip 1.2 × $1 = $1.20 $0
0.01 lot XAUUSD $0.10 a pip 1.6 × $0.10 = $0.16 $0

Costs apply in both directions. On the EURUSD trade, a 40-pip gain of $40 nets $38.80 and a 40-pip loss of $40 becomes $41.20. On the gold trade, a $5 rise in the gold price is +$5, or $4.84 after the spread, and a $5 fall costs $5.16.

KCM gives swap-free status by default on eligible instruments, except to accounts that frequently hold positions overnight. Where swap does apply, the symbol's Specification shows swap long, swap short and which weekday carries a triple swap; on desktop MT5, right-click Market Watch and switch on the Spread column to see live spreads. Each cost is explained in spread, commission and swap, and the pip value calculator works out other sizes.

How much money do you need to start in South Africa?

A KCM STP account opens from US$20 and the KCM demo is free; after that, what matters is the margin and pip value at your trade size. On EURUSD at 1.1000 with an example leverage of 1:100, 0.01 lot needs $11 of margin and moves $0.10 per pip.

At 0.10 lot the margin is $110 and each pip is worth $1, so a 40-pip move is $40 either way. On gold, 0.01 lot is 1 ounce and moves $1 for each $1 change in price. KCM's tables set the smallest order at 0.01 lot, and each symbol's Specification shows the rest. Volatility explains how far a market typically moves in a day, which tells you how much room a stop needs.

What time does the forex market open in South Africa?

South Africa uses SAST (UTC+2) all year, and the London and New York overlap, the busiest window, runs about 15:00 to 19:00 SAST in UK and US winter time and 14:00 to 18:00 SAST in summer time. South Africa does not change its clocks, so the overlap shifts by an hour twice a year when the UK and US do.

Session SAST, UK and US winter time SAST, UK and US summer time
London 10:00 to 19:00 About 09:00 to 18:00
New York 15:00 to 00:00 About 14:00 to 23:00
London and New York overlap 15:00 to 19:00 About 14:00 to 18:00

The Tokyo session runs from about 02:00 to 11:00 SAST and Sydney from about 23:00 to 08:00 SAST, so the morning before London opens is the quieter part of a Johannesburg working day. The overlap falls in the working afternoon: the BIS found that the UK and US handled about 38% and 19% of global currency turnover in April 2025, so this is when liquidity on major pairs is usually deepest. Gold and US indices such as US30 and US100 are busiest in the same window: the New York stock market opens at 9:30am New York time, which is 16:30 SAST in US winter time and 15:30 in summer time. All four sessions are covered in forex market sessions, and the forex market hours tool shows which sessions are open now.

A 24-hour strip in South Africa time, SAST, showing Sydney 23:00 to 08:00, Tokyo 02:00 to 11:00, London 10:00 to 19:00 and New York 15:00 to 00:00, with the London and New York overlap from 15:00 to 19:00 highlighted
In South Africa time (SAST, UTC+2) the London and New York overlap runs 15:00 to 19:00 in UK and US winter time; during their summer time, London and New York open one hour earlier.

Do you pay tax on forex trading in South Africa?

Trading gains are taxable, and SARS taxes them as revenue or capital depending mainly on your intention. SARS's Tax Guide for Share Owners (Issue 9) calls intention the most important factor, tested against the facts: shares bought for resale at a profit give a revenue profit.

Shares bought as a long-term investment are likely to give a capital profit. That guide is written for shares; a registered tax practitioner can say how it applies to your trading.

Income that is not salary generally makes a person, other than a company, a provisional taxpayer, according to SARS's Guide for Provisional Tax, with some exclusions for small amounts of non-business income. Provisional tax is a way of paying normal income tax during the year, usually in two payments, six months into the tax year and at its end, each with an IRP6 return.

Keep a record of every deposit, withdrawal and closed trade, so the figures you give SARS trace back to your statements.

Frequently asked questions

How do I start trading with KCM Trade in South Africa?

Register at KCM Pro (pro.kcm.trade), verify your account and practise on a free KCM demo. Then open an STP account from US$20, fund it under Funds in KCM Pro, and trade gold, forex and indices on KCM Pro's charts or in MetaTrader 5 at the sizes you practised.

What can I trade from South Africa with KCM?

Gold (XAUUSD), more than 40 forex pairs such as EURUSD and GBPUSD, and indices such as US30, US100 and US500, all in a US-dollar account with no commission. One lot of XAUUSD is 100 ounces, so 0.01 lot moves $1 for each $1 change in the gold price.

How do I deposit with KCM from South Africa?

Under Funds in KCM Pro, which shows the payment methods for South Africa with their limits and processing times; each deposit lands in your US-dollar account. A bank transfer goes under your single discretionary allowance. KCM charges no deposit or withdrawal fee, and you withdraw by the method you deposited with.

Do I pay tax on forex profits in South Africa?

Yes, trading gains are taxable. SARS treats intention as the main test of whether a gain is revenue or capital, and income that is not salary usually makes you a provisional taxpayer who pays in two instalments a year.

Sources

Practise what you learned

Open an account to use MetaTrader 5. Start on a demo account before risking real money.

Open Account