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Near endemic to South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces), ranging into Eswatini [Swaziland] and Zimbabwe. There are two isolated records in the north of Limpopo, one in the grasslands of the Soutpansberg range (Jacobsen 1989) and the other in grassland/scrub at the edge of the Pietersburg Plateau (Jacobsen 1995). A specimen (Ditsong Museum, Pretoria, South Africa, TM 39892) from Clewer in Mpumalanga represents an isolated population that was not recorded or plotted by Jacobsen (1989). The isolated relict subpopulation in Zimbabwe is restricted to the Chimanimani Mountains on the border with Mozambique (Broadley 1966). It may also be found in southern Mozambique.
Inferred from the transformation of large parts of the Grassland, Savanna and Indian Ocean Coastal Belt biomes.
This species habitat is transformed for crop farming and plantations, overgrazing by livestock, infrastructural development, frequent anthropogenic fires and use of pesticides. About 33% of the Grassland Biome, in which most of its range is located, has been degraded or converted into cropland or forestry plantations (Le Roux 2002). Large parts of its habitat have been afforested and much of the remaining area is burnt once or twice a year (Jacobsen 1989). Fires make it difficult for populations to re-establish and could be why specimens are most often found on protected rocky hillsides (Jacobsen 1989). However, the species has a large range and at present, these threats are probably not having a major impact.
Better information on the distribution of this species, as well as the status of its habitat would assist to understand how the conversion of habitat is affecting this species.