Telephone and cellphone number codes in South Africa
Most South Africans know that 082 is a Vodacom number and 083 is MTN, but with the multitude of new number codes it can be confusing to know which network you are dialling.
Before the advent of mobile phones, it was easy to see who you were calling:
- 01 – The old Transvaal province (now Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and part of the North West)
- 02 – The Western Cape and parts of the Northern Cape
- 03 – KwaZulu-Natal
- 04 – The Eastern Cape and some eastern parts of the Western Cape
- 05 – The Free State and parts of the Northern Cape
When mobile phones were introduced in South Africa, Vodacom received the 082 number range while MTN received 083. Cell C received 084 when it launched in 2001.
As the mobile operators grew, and new fixed-line and VoIP operators launched, there was a need to hand out more number ranges.
It soon became challenging to know which number ranges represented which operators.
The table below details which number ranges are linked to which operators.
| Number range | Area or Operator |
| 00 | |
| 00 | International access code |
| 01 | |
| 01 | Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and part of the North West |
| 02 | |
| 02 | The Western Cape and parts of the Northern Cape |
| 03 | |
| 03 | KwaZulu-Natal |
| 04 | |
| 04 | The Eastern Cape and some eastern parts of the Western Cape |
| 05 | |
| 05 | The Free State and parts of the Northern Cape |
| 06 | |
| 0603 – 0605 | MTN |
| 0606 – 0609 | Vodacom |
| 0610 – 0613 | Cell C |
| 0614 | Telkom Mobile |
| 0615 | Cell C |
| 0618 – 0624 | Cell C |
| 062 | Vodacom |
| 063 | MTN |
| 07 | |
| 0710 | MTN |
| 0711 – 0716 | Vodacom |
| 0717 – 0719 | MTN |
| 072 | Vodacom |
| 073 | MTN |
| 074 | Cell C |
| 0741 | Virgin Mobile |
| 076 | Vodacom |
| 078 | MTN |
| 079 | Vodacom |
| 08 | |
| 080 | Toll-free, called party pays |
| 0810 | MTN |
| 0811 – 0815 | Telkom Mobile |
| 0816 | WBS Mobile (iBurst) |
| 0817 | Telkom Mobile |
| 0818 | Vodacom |
| 082 | Vodacom |
| 083 | MTN |
| 084 | Cell C |
| 085 | USAL licence holders |
| 086 | Sharecall, MaxiCall, and premium-rate services |
| 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 |
| 08622 | Competition lines |
| 086294 | Competition lines |
| 08671 – 08674 | Information services |
| 087 | Value-added services (like VoIP) |
| 088 | Pagers and Telkom CallAnswer voicemail |
| 089 | Maxinet, for polls and radio call-in services |
| 09 | |
| 09 | Old International access code no longer in use |
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