South Africa’s Country Codes
- Telephone: +27
- 2 Letter: ZA
- 3 Letter: ZAF
- ISO 3116-1 Numeric: 710
- ISO 3116-2: ZA
- Internet TLD: .za
- ICAO Airport Code: FA
- Maritime Identification Digits: 601
- Emoji Flag: U+1F1FF U+1F1E6
- Official Name: The Republic of South Africa
How to call South Africa
- Do not include a leading ‘0’ in the international call sequence – it is only used in South Africa for domestic long distance calls and domestic calls to a mobile phone.
- A leading '+' in the phone number means 'dial your country's exit code'.
- Calling from a mobile phone: dial from on the country where you're currently located.
- Calling from a VoIP or satellite phone: dial from on the country where the phone is registered.
… to a mobile (cellular) phone or text (SMS)
Use the same call sequence.
Mobile phone numbers begin with ‘6’ and ‘7’. They are often listed as ’06’ and ’07’. Do not dial the leading ‘0’ when calling from outside South Africa.
When calling a mobile phone user, dial to the country where the mobile phone is registered, regardless of where the person is roaming.
… to a VoIP phone
Use the same call sequence.
When calling a VoIP phone user, dial to the country where the VoIP phone is registered, regardless of where the person is roaming.
… to a satellite phone
South Africa does not have a country-specific satellite phone system.
Most satellite phones operate on their country code – calls to these satellite phones follow their call sequence.
… sending a fax
Use the same call sequence.
How to call within South Africa (domestic dialing)
‘0’ is used as a trunk prefix for all calls within South Africa.
Local calling (within the same area code)
To call within South Africa dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, then the two digit area code, then the local phone number.
| 0 | two digits | seven digits |
| trunk prefix | area code | local phone number |
Long distance calling (to a different area code, or from a mobile phone)
To call within South Africa dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, then the two digit area code, then the local phone number.
| 0 | two digits | seven digits |
| trunk prefix | area code | local phone number |
Mobile calling (to a mobile phone)
To call a mobile phone within South Africa dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, then the two digit carrier code, then the local phone number.
| 0 | two digits | seven digits |
| trunk prefix | carrier code | local phone number |
South African phone numbers explained
Number details
South African numbers are nine digits (10 including a leading ‘0’ that is dropped when calling from outside the country).
The first digit (not including a leading ‘0’) designates whether the phone number is a mobile or landline.
The second digit of a landline phone number is part of an area code that designates a geographic part of the country.
Mobile numbers are represented by area codes starting with 6 or 7. The second digit of a mobile phone is part of a carrier code that designates the mobile carrier.
An example of a South African phone number
The Apartheid Museum lists its phone number in Johannesburg as +27 11 309 4700.
Number explanation
| 27 | 11 | 307 4700 |
| country code for South Africa | geographic (area) code for Johannesburg | local phone number within Johannesburg |
Local example – calling from another location in Johannesburg, South Africa
For all calls within South Africa dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, then the area code, then the local phone number.
| 0 | 11 | 309 4700 |
| long distance trunk prefix | area (geographic) code for Johannesburg | local phone number in Johannesburg |
Long distance example – calling from Cape Town, South Africa (on the other side of the country)
For all calls within South Africa dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, then the area code, then the local phone number.
| 0 | 11 | 309 4700 |
| long distance trunk prefix | area (geographic) code for Johannesburg | local phone number in Johannesburg |
Mobile phone example – calling from a mobile phone (including a foreign mobile roaming in South Africa)
For all calls within South Africa dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, then the area code, then the local phone number.
| 0 | 11 | 309 4700 |
| long distance trunk prefix | area (geographic) code for Johannesburg | local phone number in Johannesburg |
International example – calling from outside South Africa
To call from outside South Africa, dial the exit code of the country the call is dialed from, followed by South Africa’s country code of ’27’, followed by the local phone number.
Do not dial any leading ‘0’ listed in the South African phone number.
| exit code | secondone | 11 |
| exit code for the country the call is dialed from | country code for South Africa | area (geographic) code for Johannesburg |
How to call from South Africa
’00’ is used as an exit code when dialing an international call from South Africa.
Sources and more resources
- Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)– South Africa’s telephone systems regulator.
- ITU (International Telecommunications Union) – United Nations specialized agency for information and communications technologies.
- International Telecommunications Union – DIALLING PROCEDURES (INTERNATIONAL PREFIX, NATIONAL (TRUNK) PREFIX AND NATIONAL (SIGNIFICANT) NUMBER) (IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITU-T RECOMMENDATION E.164 (11/2010)) – A collection of dialing procedures for all countries and regions of the world. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
- International Telecommunications Union – South Africa (country code +27) National Numbering Plan – Details of South Africa’s telephone numbering plan as submitted to the ITU. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- Wikipedia – Telephone numbers in South Africa – Wikipedia entry for telephone number data for South Africa. Includes specific number ranges for each city as well as detail on calling procedures.
- BT – The Phonebook – South Africa – Entry for South Africa in the British Telecom international directory.