Locally-acquired malaria is generally limited to endemic areas but local cases can occur outside of these areas owing to the inadvertent transfer of infective mosquitoes by means of road or air transport, referred to as ‘odyssean malaria’. Typically, delayed diagnosis and treatment leads to severe malaria illness and sometimes fatal outcomes. Two suspected odyssean malaria cases from the same residence in Kempton Park were investigated. Neither had a history of travel to a malaria endemic region. A site inspection by a multi-sectoral team led by NICD staff revealed no obvious malaria threat in the vicinity of the index house or at other relatives’ houses that the patients frequently visited. Genotyping of the parasites in the patients’ residual blood smears revealed the same strain of Plasmodium falciparum. Both patients required intensive care for severe malaria, but recovered on appropriate treatment. Health facilities in the vicinity were advised to maintain a high index of suspicion for malaria in febrile patients with unexplained illness, even in the absence of a travel history to a malaria-endemic area.