A preliminary and limited nematode survey was conducted in the three main banana-producing areas of South Africa, namely Onderberg, Hazyview (both in Mpumalanga Province), and the South Coast of Kwazulu/Natal Province. Root and soil samples were taken from ‘Chinese Cavendish’ (AAA), ‘Dwarf Cavendish’ (AAA), ‘Grand Nain’ (AAA), ‘Williams’ (AAA) and ‘Goldfinger’ (syn. ‘FHIA-01’, AAAB). The burrowing nematode, Radopholus similis, the coffee root-lesion nematode, Pratylenchus coffeae, mixed populations of root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne incognita and Meloidogyne javanica, and the spiral nematodes, Helicotylenchus dihystera, H. multicinctus, H. pseudorobustus, and Scutellonema brachyurus occurred in all three areas with the root-knot and spiral nematodes being most abundant. Radopholus similis, a well known damaging pest on banana, was detected at low population levels. Other species found were Rotylenchulus reniformis, Paratylenchus minutus, and Paratrichodorus minor.