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). 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.
Numbers were allocated when South Africa 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.[1] However, the territory had already been allocated its own country code by the International Telecommunication Union, +264, in the late 1960s.[2]
Namibia
Following its independence, Namibia 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:
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.[5]
088: Fax Divert, 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.
09X XXX XXX (Premium-rate and machine-related numbers)
There are still some non-automated exchanges which use longer dialing codes, mostly for "farm lines" and remote areas with operator-assisted exchanges.
09X XXX XXXX numbers are no longer in use in South Africa.
External links
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) - South Africa’s communication regulator
^Lesotho, David Ambrose, Winchester Press, 1983, page 846
^Pretoria Telephone Directory, Department of Posts and Telecommunications, 1991, page 21
^ abc"INDEPENDENT COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY OF SOUTH AFRICA" (PDF). Government Gazette. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
^McKane, Jamie. "The difference between 082, 072, and 062 cellphone numbers in South Africa". Retrieved 1 June 2021.
^. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
^"TELKOM SA LTD TELKOM TARIFF LIST 1 August 2009" (PDF). Retrieved 7 September 2010.
^"New numbers for machines, premium rated services". Retrieved 16 August 2018.
^"Phone sex services to get new number range in South Africa". Retrieved 16 August 2018.
August 14, 2023
telephone, numbers, south, africa, south, africa, switched, closed, numbering, system, effective, january, 2007, that, time, became, mandatory, dial, full, digit, telephone, number, including, zero, three, digit, area, code, local, calls, must, dialed, from, w. 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 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 Telephone numbers in South AfricaLocation of South Africa dark green LocationCountrySouth AfricaContinentAfricaRegulatorIndependent Communications Authority of South AfricaTypeClosedNSN length9Format AB xxx xxxxNumbering planNumbering Plan RegulationsLast updatedMarch 24 2016Access codesCountry code 27International call prefix00Trunk prefix0 Contents 1 Background 1 1 History 1 2 Namibia 1 3 Lesotho 1 4 Botswana Swaziland and Zimbabwe 2 Number ranges 2 1 00 2 2 01 2 3 02 2 4 03 2 5 04 2 6 05 2 7 06 Cellular 2 8 07 Cellular 2 9 08 2 9 1 Cellular 2 9 2 Special Services 2 10 09X XXX XXX Premium rate and machine related numbers 3 External links 4 See also 5 ReferencesBackground EditHistory Edit Numbers were allocated when South Africa 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 1 However the territory had already been allocated its own country code by the International Telecommunication Union 264 in the late 1960s 2 Namibia Edit Following its independence Namibia 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 3 After Jan 2007 00 26461 xxx xxxx 4 Lesotho Edit 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 5 Botswana Swaziland and Zimbabwe Edit 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 6 Number ranges Edit00 Edit International access code effective from 16 October 2006 and mandatory from 16 January 2007 01 Edit 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 Johannesburg currently code for the entirety of Greater Johannesburg 012 Pretoria 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 which constitutes an anomaly since Sasolburg isn t the old Transvaal 017 Southern Mpumalanga Ermelo 018 Southern North West Mahikeng Lichtenburg Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp02 Edit Western and Northern Cape 021 Cape Town metropole and surrounds including Stellenbosch Somerset West and Gordon s Bay 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 Edit KwaZulu Natal 031 Durban 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 039 KwaZulu Natal South Coast region Port Shepstone and interior and Eastern Pondoland in Eastern Cape 04 Edit Eastern Cape and eastern parts of the Western Cape 040 Bhisho 041 Gqeberha 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 049 Western region Graaff Reinet05 Edit Free State and Northern Cape 051 Central and southern region Bloemfontein and Aliwal North in E Cape 053 Kimberley 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 Bethlehem06 Cellular Edit Cellular 7 0600 Cellular Used by Liquid Telecommunications South Africa 0601 0602 Cellular Used by TelkomSA 8 ta 0603 0605 Cellular Used by MTN 0606 0609 Cellular Used by Vodacom 061 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 0654 Cellular Used by Cell C 0655 0657 Cellular Used by MTN 0658 0659 Cellular Used by TelkomSA 8 ta 066 Cellular Used by Vodacom 0670 0672 Cellular Used by TelkomSA 8 0673 0675 Cellular Used by Vodacom 0676 0679 Cellular Used by TelkomSA 8 ta 0680 0685 Cellular Used by TelkomSA 8 ta 0685 0689 Cellular Used by MTN 0690 Cellular Used by MTN 0691 0699 Cellular Used by TelkomSA 8 ta 07 Cellular Edit 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 0741 Cellular Used by Virgin Mobile as of June 2006 to September 2021 9 075 Cellular Used by Purple Mobile South Africa 076 Cellular Used by Vodacom 078 Cellular Used by MTN 079 Cellular Used by Vodacom08 Edit Cellular Edit 0810 Cellular Used by MTN 0811 0815 Cellular Used by TelkomSA 8 ta 0816 Cellular Used by Rain 0817 Cellular Used by TelkomSA 8 ta 0818 Cellular Used by Vodacom 0819 Cellular Used by TelkomSA 8 ta 082 Cellular Used by Vodacom 083 Cellular Used by MTN 084 Cellular Used by Cell CSpecial Services Edit 080 FreeCall Toll free called party pays 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 10 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 1 among others 088 Fax Divert Pagers and Telkom CallAnswer voicemail 089 Maxinet for polls and radio call in servicesNote 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 09X XXX XXX Premium rate and machine related numbers Edit 090 Premium rate services 7 11 0902 Premium rated adult services 12 7 091 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 09X XXX XXXX numbers are no longer in use in South Africa External links EditIndependent Communications Authority of South Africa ICASA South Africa s communication regulator How to call South Africa howtophoneto comSee also EditTelecommunications in South Africa Internet in South AfricaReferences Edit South West Africa amp Walvis Bay Suidwes Afrika amp Walvisbaai lolDepartment of Posts and Telecommunications 1976 White Book Volume 2 Part 1 International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee International Telecommunication Union 1969 page 29 Official South African Municipal Yearbook S A Association of Municipal Employees 1995 page 1161 The phone book Cape peninsula Telkom Universal Web Printers 2007 page 49 Lesotho David Ambrose Winchester Press 1983 page 846 Pretoria Telephone Directory Department of Posts and Telecommunications 1991 page 21 a b c INDEPENDENT COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PDF Government Gazette 24 March 2016 Retrieved 16 August 2018 McKane Jamie The difference between 082 072 and 062 cellphone numbers in South Africa Retrieved 1 June 2021 Virgin Mobile South Africa Archived from the original on 22 April 2021 Retrieved 26 June 2006 TELKOM SA LTD TELKOM TARIFF LIST 1 August 2009 PDF Retrieved 7 September 2010 New numbers for machines premium rated services Retrieved 16 August 2018 Phone sex services to get new number range in South Africa Retrieved 16 August 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Telephone numbers in South Africa amp oldid 1145130306, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
