Trad climbing in South Africa

My partner and I are looking to plan a trip to SA next Summer. We're planning to hit the usual stops (Waterval, Rocklands) but are trad climbers more than anything else. I know Cape Town itself has quite a bit of trad climbing, I wanted to ask if anyone has specific recommendations for areas/crags/routes. We'll probably will be looking for classics in the 5.10-12 range. If there's a guidebook anyone recommends that would be fitting, I'd be happy to pick that up as well.

Thanks!

Pm incoming 

The main areas not too far from Cape Town for trad are Table Mountain, of course, then Yellowwood and Tafelberg. Slanghoek is awesome but quite long and committing, and might be too hard for the grades you mentioned. There are good guidebooks for all of them. Also consider Spitzkoppe in Namibia if you are willing to travel a bit further.

Slanghoek looks awesome! Just to be clear, I mentioned grades in the YDS system, which I think translates to 20-27 range in the local numbers. Appreciate all the beta y'all

Back in December of 2019, my wife and I spent 2 weeks climbing “country routes” around Western Cape.  There is so much long trad stuff there beyond the usual crags that most have heard of.  We did have a local “fixer” (Ross Sutter, check out his website for inspiration) who arranged the logistics for us (eg some climbs required approaches starting on private land; some had us overnighting in huts run by their alpine club).  Longish approaches, pure trad lines with up to 15-20 pitches, complex descents, and of course a worry about snakes during the bushwhacks = full on adventure.  Here’s some stuff on our blog:

https://chossclimbers.com/testing/africa/south-africa/

The Wolfberg Cracks and Tafelberg in the Southern Cedarberg has great trad routes.

Lots of good guidebooks available:

https://samountain.co.za/bluemountain/guide-books/

rpc wrote:

Back in December of 2019, my wife and I spent 2 weeks climbing “country routes” around Western Cape.  There is so much long trad stuff there beyond the usual crags that most have heard of.  We did have a local “fixer” (Ross Sutter, check out his website for inspiration) who arranged the logistics for us (eg some climbs required approaches starting on private land; some had us overnighting in huts run by their alpine club).  Longish approaches, pure trad lines with up to 15-20 pitches, complex descents, and of course a worry about snakes during the bushwhacks = full on adventure.  Here’s some stuff on our blog:

https://chossclimbers.com/testing/africa/south-africa/

15-20 pitches? That's huge!

Wolfberg cracks, Tafelberg, Maltese cross, Table mountain, the apostles, Paarl. Lots of great trad there - we just returned after three months there. Trad grades feel old school and a bit bold at times - think JTree Tuolomne Gunks but not new sport grades. Then again I am getting old and weak.