South Africa’s data price pain

The price of 1GB of data in South Africa is more expensive than most countries on the continent, Cable.co.uk’s latest data price comparison shows.

Cable.co.uk analysed mobile data costs across 5,600 plans in 237 nations between June and September 2023. Of these, 57 are African countries.

Put differently, only 19 of the 57 countries compared are more expensive per GB of mobile data than South Africa.

In mid-July 2024, South Africa’s newly-appointed communications minister, Solly Malatsi, said he wants data prices to come down.

He said South Africa must make it so the cost of data is not a burden to consumers and that Internet accessibility is increased in the country.

Stats SA’s 2023 household survey revealed that only 14.5% of South Africans have access to the Internet at home or through a fixed line.

However, thanks to South Africa’s mobile network coverage, 78.6% of South Africans have access to the Internet on the go.

Unfortunately, the relatively high mobile data pricing in South Africa makes it unaffordable to many residents. Malatsi said it inhibits most people’s ability to access the Internet regularly.

Like his predecessors, the new minister also said he would prioritise connecting government facilities and public schools to the Internet, which he says will increase accessibility and participation in South Africa’s digital economy.

South Africa data prices versus the rest of Africa

MyBroadband filtered out non-African nations from Cable.co.uk’s data set and found that South Africa has the continent’s 20th most expensive mobile data prices.

According to the data, the average price of 1GB in South Africa was $1.81 (R33.27) during the data collection period.

While this compares pretty well to the African mean of R66.86 per GB, the average is pushed up significantly by countries like Zimbabwe, Saint Helena, and South Sudan.

Comparing South Africa’s price to the median price of R23.16 across all nations shows that, on average, it is over R10 more expensive per GB.

Malawi is the most affordable of the African countries compared at $0.38 (R6.98) per GB.

The average price of 1GB of data in South Africa is nearly five times more expensive than in Malawi.

Three South African neighbours — Namibia, Eswatini, and Mozambique — have lower average data prices than South Africa, while Botswana and Zimbabwe are significantly more expensive.

The average price for 1GB of data in Mozambique, Namibia, and eSwatini sat at $0.78 (R14.34), $1.20 (R22.06), and $1.26 (R23.16), respectively.

Botswana residents pay an average of $1.99 (R36.58) per GB of data, while Zimbabwe is the most expensive country in the world for buying data, with its average GB price coming in at $43.75 (804.13).

The table below compares the average price of 1GB of data across 57 African nations. Global rankings — out of 237 countries — are shown in brackets.