Residency requirements and reputation of SA PHD programs

I'm currently working on an external degree LLM with the Univ. of London. I'll finish this up in 2006 (if all goes as planned) and then I hope to enter a Phd program in either Law or Criminology. I am interested in South African UNi's because of their low cost, lack of required courses, low residencey requirements, and in some cases, marketable academic reputations. I'm not interested in UNISA.

I recently read the Wits Uni School of law required only 16 weeks (total) of residence for a PhD program. Are short residence requirements like this typical of other top SA universities like UCT and Stellenbosch? Also, I know the abovementioned universities are of course legit, but what is their reputation in academia outside of SA, specifically in the US or UK? Any help from those in the know is most appreciated.