Updated Apr 2024

ALERT:
Should you consider to buy a SIM card at Cape Town Airport make sure it is in a sealed undamaged package!

Here we give you, as Tourist and Traveler in South Africa, some background information about how internet access in this beautiful country works.
All the things you need to know about obtaining a SIM card, free Wifi, connection speed and network coverage in Cape Town and the rest of South Africa.

Firstly please keep in mind that South Africa is still behind Europe and North America if it comes to speed, affordability and network coverage. You can see in this article where SA ranks versus the world. The good news is that most of the main routes and all metropoles in SA are covered by high speed mobile broadband. Therefore internet access and navigation with Google Maps or any other online routing app works really well in these areas.

The mobile broadband speed

On the mobile broadband the download speed varies from under 100 Kbps(GPRS) in rural areas up to 200 Mbps (LTE/5G) in cities depending on the coverage in your actual area. As an average you can expect +- 10 Mbps download speed.

Free Wifi in Hotels, B&B’s and Restaurants

Most Hotels, a lot of B&B’s and as well Restaurants offer free WiFi. However you might get disappointed.
Why?
Internet access and data is very expensive in South Africa and therefore the hospitality industry either limits the speed, amount of data or online time on their free Wifi Hotspots. The sign up process can take time and very often you have to give up lots of personal details to gain access.

Buying a SIM card in South Africa

Of course you can buy yourself a SA SIM card and load it with data and airtime. In theory the process is relatively simple. SIM cards are available in Provider Outlets (Vodacom, MTN, CellC, Telkom) and in most Supermarkets. The price for a pre-paid SIM card ranges from 0 to 10 Rand (60 US cents).

MTN and Vodacom are the best choice since they have the best coverage and highest speeds all over the South Africa.

Don’t forget to ask for the specific SIM format – Standard, Mini, Micro, Nano.
However sometimes you have to be lucky to find someone competent to help you with the whole process.
Often the queues are long and the service can be slow. Therefore don’t be in hurry when buying a SIM.

RICA – The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act
The South African government legislation requires that all telephone cards have to be registered.
You need to present your passport to purchase a SIM card and proof of where you are staying during your time in SA.

Toping up data and airtime can be done in Outlets and Supermarkets as well. Just buy a voucher and follow the instructions.
There is really no big difference in the cost of data and airtime between the major providers. So don’t worry too much about this.

Please note that truly uncapped mobile data packages are not offered in SA. There is always a catch!
The same is valid for the Worldwide Providers who offer ‘unlimited data’. Yes they do but most of them reduce the download speed to snail pace after you have used up your daily allocated high speed data.