Keep prepaid Vodacom SIM active when abroad

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chips_gimpy

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Asking here since the representatives on twitter really are having a hard time understanding what I’m asking.

Me and the SO visit SA yearly and it’s getting a bit of a hassle getting a new SIM every time and having to RICA and waiting for activation. This time it took 24 hours and then we had problems with changing tariffs. We’ve now got two Vodacom sim cards and want to keep them active when we’re abroad. The website is not clear in mentioning which *single* activities are valid. If we recharge using eg a Takealot voucher, will it count like activity? will it keep the card active? I do not want to make calls or send SMS. I just want to recharge and use the airtime when I’m back in SA and buy bundles here. It’s a bit of a waste to waste the airtime on SMS, but if need be I guess we can do it.
 
I think you have to make or receive one call on each sim every month just to keep it active.
 
Last time I checked you have to make a call once every 7 months.
But what you can maybe try is to load say R100 airtime and then add a monthly recurring bundle. You could look at social bundles, i.e. the smallest whatsapp bundle which would be a few Rands every month.
 
Just get a pre RICA sim from a paki shop or ask a friend to top it up and use it in a spare phone.
 
I have a sim in a device that sends me power alerts at work.

It sends out sms's every 4 to 6 months when power goes down at the factory and that seems to do it.
 
MTN has an Access4Life option, where you pay R5 every 3 months to keep the sim active
 
From my experience, most providers require some form of activity, like sending an SMS or making a short call, but it's not always clear what qualifies. For one of my SIMs, I set up a small recurring bundle (like a daily WhatsApp bundle) to ensure it stayed active. That way, I wasn’t wasting airtime on unnecessary texts or calls.

If you need to keep SIMs active and also handle airtime top-ups for international numbers, it might be worth looking into services that offer mobile airtime recharge options. I’ve used https://paynet.red/ for quick and hassle-free top-ups, especially for international numbers.
 
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I have friends from the UK that visit regularly. All I do for their two local numbers is to load R10 airtime every month on each number (simple to do with online repeat payments). Never had an issue.
 
Andregr said:
I have friends from the UK that visit regularly. All I do for their two local numbers is to load R10 airtime every month on each number (simple to do with online repeat payments). Never had an issue.
Click to expand...
doesn't the R10 expire after a month?
On MTN if you load more than R25, it never expires
 
Not AFAIK, every time they arrive here they just convert the airtime into data.
 
I know the rule for Cell C is to recharge every eight weeks or so, even if it is for R10. A simple solution will be to just recharge every month for R10 to have peace of mind?
 
Andregr said:
I have friends from the UK that visit regularly. All I do for their two local numbers is to load R10 airtime every month on each number (simple to do with online repeat payments). Never had an issue.
Click to expand...
Hi there, i just wanted confirm if these Sims are Vodacom sims?
I currently am away from home and i forgot my spare phone, im so scared that im going to lose my number, and i won't have access to it for the next 5 months. So im really hoping that i can just load airtime everymonth like you do and that it would stay active 🤞🏼
 
Sunny_G said:
Hi there, i just wanted confirm if these Sims are Vodacom sims?
I currently am away from home and i forgot my spare phone, im so scared that im going to lose my number, and i won't have access to it for the next 5 months. So im really hoping that i can just load airtime everymonth like you do and that it would stay active 🤞🏼
Click to expand...
I do the same for US friends who have local VC numbers, never ever had an issue. They've had the numbers since just after the Covid circus.
 
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