you need a SAHPA license to paraglide - SAHPA is the south african hang gliding and paragliding association and falls under the SA CAA.
to get a paragliding license you need to do 35 flights under the supervision of an instructor at a registered school.
this can take anything from two weeks to 6 months, depending on how well the weather plays along, and how dedicated you are.
a license course costs in the region of 5-8k.
schools supply the equipment for training.
once finished you can set yourself up for under 20k with 2nd hand gear.
there is lots of second hand gear around because people are always upgrading long before the equipment has been used up.
SAHPA -
http://www.sahpa.co.za/