South Africa switched to a closed numbering system effective 16 January 2007. At that time, it became mandatory to dial the full 10-digit telephone number, including the zero in the three-digit area code, for local calls (e.g., 011 must be dialed from within

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

). Area codes within the system are generally organized geographically. All telephone numbers are 9 digits long (but always prefixed by 0 for calls within South Africa), except for certain Telkom special services. When dialed from another country, the "0" is omitted and replaced with the appropriate international access code and the country code +27.

Background

History

Numbers were allocated when

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

had only four provinces, meaning that ranges are now split across the current nine provinces. South-West Africa (including Walvis Bay) was integrated into the South African numbering plan. However, the territory had already been allocated its own country code by the

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

, +264, in the late 1960s.

Namibia

Following its independence,

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

discontinued direct dialing from South Africa, and replaced it with international dialing using the +264 country code. For example, for a call from South Africa to Windhoek, before and after 1992: : Before 1992: 061 xxx xxxx : After 1992: 09 26461 xxx xxxx : After Jan 2007: 00 26461 xxx xxxx

Lesotho

Calls to Lesotho could be made using the access code 050 instead of the international code +266; for example, to call Maseru from South Africa, subscribers would dial 0501.

Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe

Calls to

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...

, Swaziland and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

could similarly be made using the

regional code A regional lockout (or region coding) is a class of digital rights management preventing the use of a certain product or service, such as multimedia or a hardware device, outside a certain region or territory. A regional lockout may be enforced ...

s 0192, 0194 and 0191, respectively, instead of the international codes

+267 Fixed line numbers in Botswana are seven digits long in a closed telephone numbering plan, with the geographical area being indicated by the first two or three digits, meaning that there are no area codes. The country was allocated its own count ...

+268 Eswatini, then known as Swaziland, was allocated the country code +268 by the International Telecommunication Union, in the late 1960s. To call a telephone number in Eswatini, the following format is used: ;yy xx xxxx:calls from within Eswatini ; ...

and

+263 The following are the telephone codes in Zimbabwe. Local Calls In the same town/city For calls inside the same geographic numbering area (local calls), dial the Subscriber Number only (this includes the Prefixing Number). To another town/ ...

Number ranges

00

International access code effective from 16 October 2006 and mandatory from 16 January 2007.

01

The old Transvaal province, currently comprising Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and part of the North West: : ''010'': New overlay plan for Johannesburg : ''011'': Witwatersrand region around

, currently code for the entirety of Greater Johannesburg : ''012'':

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

and surrounding towns (also includes Brits) : ''013'': Eastern Gauteng ( Bronkhorstspruit) and Western and northern Mpumalanga: Middelburg, Witbank and Nelspruit : ''014'': Northern North West and Southwestern Limpopo: Rustenburg and Modimolle : ''015'': Northern and Eastern Limpopo: Polokwane : ''016'': Vaal Triangle: Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark and

Sasolburg Sasolburg is a large industrial city within the Metsimaholo Local Municipality in the far north of the Free State province of South Africa. Sasolburg is further sub-divided into three areas: Sasolburg proper, Vaalpark (a more affluent cluster o ...

, which constitutes an anomaly, since Sasolburg isn't the old Transvaal. : ''017'': Southern Mpumalanga: Ermelo : ''018'': Southern North West: Mahikeng, Lichtenburg, Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp

02

Western and Northern Cape: : ''021'':

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

metropole and surrounds, including Stellenbosch, Somerset West and

Gordon's Bay Gordon's Bay ( af, Gordonsbaai) is a harbour town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the Helderberg region (formerly called Hottentots Holland). It ...

: ''022'': Boland and West Coast: Malmesbury : ''023'': Worcester and greater Karoo, including Beaufort West : ''027'': Namaqualand (Northern Cape): Vredendal, Calvinia, Clanwilliam, Springbok, Alexander Bay, Port Nolloth : ''028'': Southern region: Swellendam and Caledon / Hermanus region.

03

KwaZulu-Natal: : ''031'':

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

: ''032'': KZN North coast region: Verulam, Tongaat, Ballito and Stanger : ''033'': Pietermaritzburg and KwaZulu-Natal Midlands : ''034'': Vryheid, Newcastle and Northern KZN : ''035'': Zululand region: St. Lucia, Richards Bay, Ulundi : ''036'': Drakensberg region:

Ladysmith Ladysmith may refer to: * Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa * Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada * Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States * Ladysmith, New South Wales, Australia * Ladysmith, Virginia, United States * Ladysmith Island, Queensl ...

: ''039'': KwaZulu-Natal South Coast region: Port Shepstone and interior, and Eastern Pondoland (in Eastern Cape)

04

Eastern Cape and eastern parts of the Western Cape: : ''040'': Bhisho : ''041'':

Gqeberha Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

and Uitenhage : ''042'': Southern region: Humansdorp : ''043'': East London and surrounds : ''044'': Garden Route, including Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Mossel Bay and George : ''045'': Central region: Queenstown : ''046'': Southern region: Grahamstown, Bathurst, Port Alfred, Kenton-on-Sea : ''047'': Mthatha / most of previous Transkei : ''048'': Northern region:

Steynsburg Steynsburg is a small town in the Walter Sisulu Local Municipality of the Joe Gqabi District Municipality, Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Steynsburg is located on the intersection of the R56 and R390. The town lies south-west of Burg ...

: ''049'': Western region: Graaff-Reinet

05

Free State and Northern Cape : ''051'': Central and southern region:

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape ...

, and Aliwal North in E Cape : ''053'':

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

, eastern part of Northern Cape, far west of NW province : ''054'': Upington, Gordonia region : ''056'': Northern Free State: Kroonstad : ''057'': Northern Free State: Welkom (Goldfields region) : ''058'': Eastern Free State:

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...

06 (Cellular)

Cellular : ''0603 - 0605'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''0606 - 0609'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''0610 - 0613'': Cellular: Used by Cell C : ''0614'': Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) : ''0615 - 0619'': Cellular: Used by Cell C : ''062'': Cellular: Used by Cell C : ''0630 - 0635'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''0636 - 0637'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''0640'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''0641 - 0645'': Cellular: Used by Cell C : ''0646 - 0649'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''0650 - 0653'': Cellular: Used by Cell C : ''0654:'' Cellular: Used b
Lycamobile SA
(Cell C entered into an MVNO deal with Lycamobile in August 2017) : ''0655 - 0657'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''0658 - 0659'': Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) : ''0660 - 0665'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''0670 - 0672'': Cellular: Used by TelkomSA : ''0673 - 0675'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''0676 - 0679'': Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) : ''0680 - 0685'': Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) : ''0690'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''0691 - 0695'': Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta)

07 (Cellular)

:''0710'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''0711 - 0716'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''0717 - 0719'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''072'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''073'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''074'': Cellular: Used by Cell C (Cell C has allocated 0741 to Virgin Mobile) : ''0741'': Cellular: Used by: Virgin Mobile as of June 2006 : ''076'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''078'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''079'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom

08

Cellular

: ''0810'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''0811 - 0815'': Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) : ''0816'': WBS Mobile (Vodacom and MTN both have terminated SMS interconnect with WBS so SMS messages to/from this number range are not relayed) : ''0817'': Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) : ''0818'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''082'': Cellular: Used by Vodacom : ''083'': Cellular: Used by MTN : ''083-9'': Cellular rates to Telkom lines, reroutes call to a telkom line and pays number owner for received calls : ''084'': Cellular: Used by Cell C

Special Services

: ''080'': ''FreeCall'', Toll-free, called party pays : ''083-9'': Cellular rates to Telkom lines, reroutes call to a telkom line and pays number owner for received calls : ''085'': Cellular: USAL license holders - Vodacom and MTN have some prefixes out of this range for their USAL offerings : ''086'': ''Sharecall'', ''MaxiCall'' and premium-rate services, calls can be routed to regional offices automatically : ''0860'': ''Sharecall'' Land line callers pay local call, called party pays long distance if applicable : ''0861'': ''MaxiCall'' caller always pay long distance for call even if routed to local office : ''0862 - 9'': Premium rate caller pays increasing rate linked to last digit : ''0862, 0865, 0866, 08673, 08774, 08676'': ''Fax to Email'' caller always pay increasing rate linked to last digits : ''08622, 086294'': ''Competition lines'' caller always pay premium rate : ''08671 - 08674'': ''Information services'' caller always pay increasing rate linked to last digit : ''087'': Value-added services (

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Interne ...

br>
among others) : ''088'': Pagers and Telkom CallAnswer voicemail : ''089'': Maxinet, for polls and radio call-in services ''Note that from 10 November 2006, mobile number portability was introduced in the cellular market. The cellular prefixes as above are therefore not strictly applicable anymore, although they remain mostly unchanged.''

09 (Premium-rate and machine-related numbers)

: ''090'': Premium-rate services : ''0902'': Premium-rated adult services : ''091'': Premium-rate services : ''092'': Premium-rate services : ''096'': Machine-related services (14-digit numbers) : ''097'': Machine-related services (14-digit numbers) : ''098'': Machine-related services (14-digit numbers) There are still some non-automated exchanges which use longer dialing codes, mostly for "farm lines" and remote areas with operator-assisted exchanges.

External links

Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)
- South Africa’s communication regulator
How to call South Africa
- howtophoneto.com

References

{{Africa topic, Telephone numbers in

Telecommunications in South Africa Telephone numbers