Country calling code +27 Trunk prefix 0 | International call prefix 00 | |
South Africa has switched to a closed numbering system. Within South Africa, from 16 January 2007 it became mandatory to dial the full 10 digit telephone number including the zero in the three-digit area code even for local calls (for example: 061). Area codes within the system are generally organised 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.
Numbers were initially allocated when South Africa had 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.
Following its independence as Namibia, direct dialling from South Africa was discontinued and replaced by international dialling with the +264 country code. For example, for a call from South Africa to Windhoek, before and after 1992:
Before 1992: 061 xxx xxxxAfter 1992: 09 26461 xxx xxxxAfter Jan 2007: 00 26461 xxx xxxxCalls 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.
Calls to Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe could similarly be made using the regional codes 0192, 0194 and 0191, respectively, instead of the international codes +267, +268 and +263.
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 Johannesburg011: Witwatersrand region around Johannesburg, currently code for entire Greater Johannesburg012: Pretoria and surrounding towns (also includes Brits)013: Eastern Gauteng (Bronkhorstspruit) and Western and northern Mpumalanga: Middelburg, Witbank and Nelspruit014: Northern North West and Southwestern Limpopo: Rustenburg and Modimolle015: Northern and Eastern Limpopo: Polokwane016: Vaal Triangle: Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark and Sasolburg, which constitutes an anomaly, since Sasolburg isn't the old Transvaal.017: Southern Mpumalanga: Ermelo018: Southern North West: Lichtenburg, Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp02: Western and Northern Cape:
021: Cape Town metropole and surrounds, including Stellenbosch, Somerset West and Gordon's Bay022: Boland and West Coast: Malmesbury023: Worcester and greater Karoo, including Beaufort West024: Somerset West (Became 021 in 1996)027: Namaqualand (Northern Cape): Vredendal, Calvinia, Clanwilliam, Springbok, Alexander Bay, Port Nolloth028: Southern region: Swellendam and Caledon / Hermanus region.03: KwaZulu-Natal:
031: Durban032: KZN North coast region: Verulam, Tongaat, Ballito and Stanger033: Pietermaritzburg and KwaZulu-Natal Midlands034: Vryheid, Newcastle and Northern KZN035: Zululand region: St. Lucia, Richards Bay, Ulundi036: Drakensberg region: Ladysmith039: South coast: Port Shepstone and interior, and Eastern Pondoland (in Eastern Cape)04: Eastern Cape and eastern parts of the Western Cape:
040: Bhisho041: Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage042: Southern region: Humansdorp043: East London and surrounds044: Garden Route, including Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Mossel Bay and George045: Central region: Queenstown046: Southern region: Grahamstown, Bathurst, Port Alfred, Kenton-on-Sea047: Mthatha / most of previous Transkei048: Northern region: Steynsburg049: Western region: Graaff-Reinet05: Free State and Northern Cape
051: Central and southern region: Bloemfontein, and Aliwal North in E Cape053: Kimberley, eastern part of Northern Cape, far west of NW province054: Upington, Gordonia region056: Northern Free State: Kroonstad057: Northern Free State: Welkom (Goldfields region)058: Eastern Free State: Bethlehem06: Mostly unused, partially allocated for Cellular use.
0603 - 0605: Cellular: Used by MTN0606 - 0609: Cellular: Used by Vodacom0610 - 0613: Cellular: Used by Cell C0614: Cellular: Used by 8ta (Telkom)0615: Cellular: Used by Cell C0618 - 0624: Cellular: Used by Cell C062: Cellular: Used by Vodacom063: Cellular: Used by MTN064: Cellular: Used by Cell CCellular: Used by Cell C07: Cellular
0710: MTN (spill-over from 083)0711 - 0716: Vodacom (spill-over from 082)0717 - 0719: MTN (spill-over from 083)072: Vodacom (spill-over from 082)073: MTN (spill-over from 083)074: Cell C (Cell C has allocated 0741 to Virgin Mobile)0741: Virgin Mobile as of June 2006 076: Vodacom (spill-over from 082)078: MTN (spill-over from 083)079: Vodacom (spill-over from 082)08: Special services
080: FreeCall, Toll-free, called party pays0810: Cellular: MTN0811 - 0815: Telkom Mobile (8ta)0816: WBS Mobile (should be noted that Vodacom and MTN both have terminated SMS interconnect with WBS so SMS messages to/from this number range are /dev/null'ed)0817: Telkom Mobile (8ta)0818: Cellular: Vodacom082: Cellular: Vodacom083: Cellular: MTN083-9 Cellular rates to Telkom lines, reroutes call to a telkom line and pays number owner for received calls084: Cellular: Cell C085: Cellular: USAL license holders - Vodacom and MTN have some prefixes out of this range for their USAL offerings086: Sharecall, MaxiCall and premium-rate services, calls can be routed to regional offices automatically0860: Sharecall Land line callers pay local call, called party pays long distance if applicable0861: MaxiCall caller always pay long distance for call even if routed to local office0862 - 9: Premium rate caller pays increasing rate linked to last digit0862, 0865, 0866, 08673, 08774, 08676: Fax to Email caller always pay increasing rate linked to last digits08622, 086294: Competition lines caller always pay premium rate08671 - 08674: Information services caller always pay increasing rate linked to last digit087: Value-added services (VoIP [1] among others)088: Pagers and Telkom CallAnswer voicemail089: Maxinet, for polls and radio call-in servicesNote that since 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: Old international access code no longer in use.
There are still some non-automated exchanges which use longer dialing codes, mostly for 'Farm Lines' and remote areas with operator assisted exchanges.