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Endemic to the southern half of Africa. Occurs from the equator in Africa southwards to the northern and eastern parts of South Africa (Alexander 2007), including the northeastern parts of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, and Eswatini (Swaziland) (Bates et al. 2014). In the west, the species only reaches as far north as the northern border of Angola, but appears to penetrate farther north in the east at elevated altitudes on the eastern and western arcs of the Rift Valley (Broadley 1999). The southernmost population, in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, is isolated from other more northern populations by a distance of more than 350 km. This population once thought to have been extirpated in the early part of the 20th Century (FitzSimons 1962), but occasional records from the region (e.g. Alicedale , 1980s, W.R. Branch unpubl. data, 1984) indicate that small populations may still survive there. Specimens were introduced into the Andries Vosloo Kudu Reserve in the early 1980s and subsequent records, including records of hatchlings, indicate that the introduction was successful, at least in the short term (W.R. Branch unpubl. data, 1984). Apart from the Alicedale and Andries Vosloo populations, all other populations in the Eastern Cape are now considered extirpated, as there have not been any reports of their continued existence within the last 50 years.
Animals are collected for the pet trade and the muthi market (Williams et al. 2016). The full extent of this trade is unknown.