Shell small, thick, solid; shape broad with low, conical spire and broad base. Protoconch with 1 2/3 convex, smooth whorls; yellowish. Transition to teleoconch indistinct, marked by sudden appearance of teleoconch sculpture. Teleoconch consisting of 5,75 weakly convex whorls, upper spire whorls slightly flattened. Axial sculpture dominant but obscured by spiral band. Colour reddish brown with white dots on top of axial sculpture, dots on base smaller, periphery with continuous white spiral band on top of spiral cord. All spire whorls with 3 fine primary spiral cords; interspaces narrow on first whorl, gradually growing broader, along second and third whorls with a single fine secondary spiral thread. This fine secondary thread growing stronger along penultimate whorl. Body whorl with 11 or 12 primary spiral cords, interspaces broad with 1 to 3 secondary spiral cords, adapical interspace broader; spiral interspaces on siphonal canal broad but usually smooth without secondary spiral cords.
All spire whorls with 9 or 10 broad axial ribs, interspaces narrow. Body whorl with 9 such axial ribs. Aperture typical for genus, adapically part semi-oval, abapical part towards siphonal canal narrower. Outer lip thick; edge sharp, glossy; anal denticle separated by moderately broad adapical notch from 4 (holotype) or 5 (paratype) internal knobs. Obscure internal lirae present inside the outer lip, running from behind outer lip to far inside aperture. Columella gently curved, parietal smooth with narrow callus; columella with 2 (holotype) to 4 (paratype) columellar folds. Parietal smooth, callus narrow, parietal knob weak with obscure, almost invisible parietal denticle. Anal notch weak, anal knob big, without denticle. Siphonal canal short, broad, open, curved towards dorsum. Aperture and siphonal canal together slightly more than 1/2 of total shell length.

Speccapollia africana sp. nov. is characterized by the rather smooth upper section of the aperture; the few secondary spiral cords and the rather dark colour with snow-white dots on top of the axial ribs and the presence of a narrow, white spiral band along the periphery.
Speccapollia recurva differs from S. africana sp. nov. in the number of secondary spiral cords and their strenght: up to 5 in the adapical spiral interspace and 3 in the other interspaces that are slightly finer (while 5. africana sp. nov. only has 3 secondary spiral cords in the adapical spiral interspace, a single or occasionally 3 in the other interspaces on the last whorl and usually smooth interspaces on the siphonal canal); in having a slightly broader aperture with slightly shorter siphonal canal; a weakly narrower callus near the anal notch; a weak but still stronger parietal knob; the presence of a weak anal knob; and the paler colour with a broader white spiral band along the periphery of the last whorl. Speccapollia tokiae differs from S. africana sp. nov. in having narrow spiral cords separated by broader interspaces, an usually paler colour with fine white spiral lines on top of the spiral sculpture and by the absence of a paler spiral band along the body whorl. Engina phasinola (Duclos, 1840) differs from S. africana in the slightly broader shape, the deeper and broader subsutural concavity, the slightly broader callus along the parital part of the columella, the presence of a weak parietal denticle and an anal knob, and the stronger apertural denticles inside the outer lip.