South Africa's visitors charged exorbitant roaming data fees

Daniel Puchert said:
South Africa's R281,290 per GB scandal

People visiting South Africa can pay extraordinary data rates when roaming on the country's networks — with at least one charging as much as R281,290 per GB.

Even the most affordable fees are nearly ten times as much as local costs.
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All they gotta do is go to any local Pakistani shop, buy a R10 pre-rica'd simcard and load data bundles...
 
chrisc said:
This does not sound right

My Danish cousin got an eSIM from an MTN store in 30 mins. Another few mins at my house setting it up, bought R500 airtime and data

This was in January. She has an iPhone 15. She was here for 6 weeks

The biggest hurdle was not a SIM but the Home Affairs lady at the airport. She said her passport must be valid for 6 months (it expired in May) and there was an argument before she was admitted
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What is not right? the high roaming fees, or issues getting local SIMs?
 
Swa said:
Agreed but it's not like it's any kind of hurdle. I bought a Telkom sim from Checkers. Their system was down so I went to a Telkom shop in the same mall.
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So you had to go to not just one, but two different places in order to activate a SIM card that shouldn't have needed regulatory approval in the first place... and that's not a potential hurdle, especially for a visitor? :unsure:
 
bwana said:
So you had to go to not just one, but two different places in order to activate a SIM card that shouldn't have needed regulatory approval in the first place... and that's not a potential hurdle, especially for a visitor? :unsure:
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There's a lot of inconsistency around getting a sim card if you're a visitor. Some shops require nothing at all, but will charge R200 or more just for the sim card. Some shops do require passport but won't ask for proof of residence if you're a tourist. Others want proof of residence, but will accept just seeing your hotel key card as proof. My only proof of residence is my fnb bank statement, but it has my foreign address listed so some accept it and others won't.
 
I think the other problem people miss with foreigners just getting local SIM cards is...

Not all visitors are jetsetters. You might have a contingent of people that don't speak English, are flying to South Africa to get on a shuttle to go see some lions. The thought of trying to negotiate with somebody in a different language to get a SIM, the right SIM card after getting of a plane after a lot of hours. Not really knowing the country or the customs. All of that can be super intimidating for somebody that is not a regular traveller.

So website esims are a godsend to them. And roaming is exploiting those people.
 
These companies will all go bankrupt if they lower fees. Keep raising it and do what is needed to ensure we have access to telephones and Internet. Ignore anyone complaining. Everyone has money and everyone will pay.
 
bwana said:
So you had to go to not just one, but two different places in order to activate a SIM card that shouldn't have needed regulatory approval in the first place... and that's not a potential hurdle, especially for a visitor? :unsure:
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That's like saying because one shop doesn't have coffee in stock it's a hurdle to buy coffee. There's like 10 shops in any mall that sell and rica sims. I agree it shouldn't be necessary and the regulations are stupid but that's why it's so easy to get around.

Johand said:
I think the other problem people miss with foreigners just getting local SIM cards is...

Not all visitors are jetsetters. You might have a contingent of people that don't speak English, are flying to South Africa to get on a shuttle to go see some lions. The thought of trying to negotiate with somebody in a different language to get a SIM, the right SIM card after getting of a plane after a lot of hours. Not really knowing the country or the customs. All of that can be super intimidating for somebody that is not a regular traveller.

So website esims are a godsend to them. And roaming is exploiting those people.
Click to expand...
People should know by now to do their homework first. I won't go to another country without first researching their telephony options.
 
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