The Chestnut Weaver occurs in northern Namibia to southern Angola and NW Botswana, and also in East Africa. The first record for the species in South Africa was in 2011, followed by annual sightings until 2014. Then there was a gap of no records for 5 years, with 2 records in 2019. The table below shows all reported records (updated from my list at Weaver news).
See rarity records of more weaver species here.
Table: records of Chestnut Weavers in the Northern Cape, South Africa
(Abbreviations used: KTP = Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park; BP = breeding plumage)
| Record | Date | Locality | First observer | Notes | Web links |
| 1 | 9-12 Jan 2011 | Nossob, KTP, N Cape | Madel Whittington | 1 male BP | first news item and papers [not listed in ABB 2011 16(2):18-19] |
| 2 | 14-24 Jan 2011 | Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, N Cape | Ben Smit | 1 male BP | weaver news |
| 3 | 12 April 2011 | Samevloeiing waterhole, KTP, N Cape | Graeme Ellis | 1 male BP | paper |
| 4 | 23 Feb 2012 | just south of Union’s End picnic site, KTP | Wenda Redfern | 2 males BP | Birdpix, and rarebirdnews |
| 5 | 22 April 2013 | Augrabies Falls NP | Alan Sizer | 2 males BP, 1 female | Birdpix |
| 6 | 17 Mar 2014 | Spitskop GR, Upington, N Cape | Vincent Parker | 1 male BP | weaver news |
| 7 | 30 Mar 2014 | Spitskop GR, Upington, N Cape | Brian Vanderwalt | 1 male BP | male still present & building |
| 7b | end of Mar 2014 | Spitskop GR, Upington, N Cape | Peter Giesler | 1 male BP | facebook photo |
| 8 | 6 Jan 2019 | campsite at Nossob, KTP, N Cape | Lynette Nel | 1 moulting male | rarebirdnews |
| 9 | 2 Feb 2019 | Blauputz Valley near Augrabies Falls NP, N Cape | not given | male | rarebirdnews 4 Feb |
