[2] He originally assigned the binomial name Coluber niveus, but some 10 years afterwards, Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti described the genus of true cobras under the name Naja.

In 2007, Wüster et al. partitioned the genus Naja into four separate subgenera on the basis of various factors such as lineage, morphology, and diet.

[6] Another very large specimen was also a male found in De Hoop Nature Reserve with a total length of 1.86 metres (6.1 ft).

For example, the Kalahari Desert specimens in Botswana and Namibia are usually more consistently yellow than the more southerly populations,[8] but at De Hoop, and other specific locations in the Western Cape, all colour variations have been recorded.

[7] Juvenile specimens generally have conspicuously dark throats extending down the belly for the width of a dozen or so ventral scales.

[7] It is a terrestrial snake, but readily climbs trees and bushes, and shows considerable agility in, for example, systematically robbing the nests of the sociable weaver.

When disturbed and brought to bay, the Cape cobra raises its forebody off the ground, spreads a broad hood, and may hiss loudly.

[8] If the threat remains motionless, the snake quickly attempts to escape, but at any sign of movement, adopts its defensive posture again.

[11] Other carnivorous mammals such as meerkats and a few species of mongoose often prey on the Cape cobra and are its main predators;[8] they have a low susceptibility to its venom.

Females lay between 8 and 20 eggs (roughly 60 × 25 mm in size) in midsummer (December–January), in a hole or an abandoned termite mound or some other warm, wet location.

[13] The venom of this snake tends to be thick and syrupy in consistency and dries into shiny pale flakes, not unlike yellow sugar.

The mortality rate for untreated bites is not exactly known, but is thought to be high, around ~50%,[15] which can be due to various factors, including the amount of venom injected, psychological state of the bitten subject, the penetration of one or both fangs, and others.

Mechanical ventilation and symptom management is often enough to save a victim's life, but cases of serious Cape cobra envenomation require antivenom.

When death does occur, it normally takes one (in severe cases) to ten hours (or more), and it is often as a result of respiratory failure, due to the onset of paralysis.