South Africa Service
The South Africa SIM card, combined with an international mobile phone, is the most simple and economical solution for staying in touch while in South Africa. All incoming calls while in South Africa are FREE, regardless of where they originate. Pay the local rate for local calls and use a mobile phone in South Africa like you do at home. Since this SIM card is prepaid, there are no monthly fees and no need for a contract.
Benefits:
- 60 R ($9 USD) starter credit.
- A local mobile phone number in South Africa
- FREE incoming calls
- Voicemail
- Text messaging
- No yearly contract, monthly charges or credit check.
Rates
Domestic calls
You have a choice of 3 calling plans: Classic (default), Pay Per Second and Payback. The Payback plan rates have not been listed, but information may be obtained by calling 173 from your South Africa cell phone. You may switch your South Africa cell phone plan 1 time per month free of charge.
Peak: Weekdays 7 AM - 8 PM
Off-Peak: Weekdays 8 PM - 7 AM, All day Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays
Classic (default)
The Classic plan has been created for those people in South Africa who may not make a lot of calls and who tend to make more calls during Off-Peak times. It also offers preferential rates to other South Africa MTN numbers. All calls within South Africa are charged on a per minute basis.
| Calling to | Peak per minute rate |
Off-peak per minute rate |
| MTN mobile phones | R 2,60
($0.36 USD) |
R 1,40
($0.20 USD) |
| Other phones | R 2,85
($0.41 USD) |
R 1,55
($0.22 USD) |
Outgoing text messages are R 0,86 ($0.12 USD) per message.
Pay Per Second
If you're on a budget and make a lot of short calls, you should try the Pay per second plan. All calls are charged on a per-second basis - you only pay for the time you use.
| Calling to | Peak per second rate |
Off-peak per second rate |
| MTN mobile phones | 0,06
($0.01 USD) |
R 0,016
($0.02 USD) |
| Other phones | R 0,016
($0.02 USD) |
R 0,016
($0.02 USD) |
Outgoing text messages are R 0,86 ($0.12 USD) each during peak time and only R 0,03 ($0.04 USD) each during off-peak.
International calls
Classic (default)
All international calls with your South Africa SIM card are charged on a per-minute basis.
| Calling to | Per minute rate |
| Zone 1 | R 3,00 ($0.44 USD) |
| Zone 2 | R 5,00 ($0.73 USD) |
| Zone 3 | R 7,50 ($1.09 USD) |
| Zone 4 | R 10 ($1.45 USD) |
| Zone 5 | R 15 ($2.18 USD) |
| Zone 6 | R 20 ($2.90 USD) |
Pay Per Second
All international calls with your South Africa SIM card are charged on a per-second basis.
| Calling to | Per minute rate |
| Zone 1 | R 0,12 ($0.01 USD) |
| Zone 2 | R 0,12 ($0.01 USD) |
| Zone 3 | R 0,18 ($0.02 USD) |
| Zone 4 | R 0,24 ($0.03 USD) |
| Zone 5 | R 0,36 ($0.05 USD) |
| Zone 6 | R 0,48 ($0.07 USD) |
Zone 1: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, San Marino Republic
Zone 2: American Samoa, Andorra, Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Dominican Republic, Faroe Island, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Guam, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Mariana Island, Monaco, Mozambique, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA, Zambia
Zone 3: Alaska, Albania, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Austria, Azerbaijani, Barbados, Belarus, Rep of, Belgium, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Denmark, Dominica, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Israel, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Martinique, Mauritania, Montserrat, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Portugal, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Spain, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, Virgin Island, USA, Yugoslavia Fed Rep, Zaire (Congo DRC)
Zone 4: Argentina, Aruba, Ascension, Benin, Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Central African Rep, Chile, China Peoples Rep, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Rep of, Cyprus, Czech Rep, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Rep of, Falkland Islands, Finland, Georgia, Rep of, Ghana, Guatemala, Guiana (French), India, Japan, Kenya, Korea Rep (South Korea), Kuwait Mobile, Latvia, Lebanon, Macao, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Rep of, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, St Helena, St Pierre & Miquelon, Taiwan (China Rep), Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, USSR - Russian Federation
Zone 5: Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo Brazaville, Cook Island, Djibouti, Ecuador, Eritrea, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea People's Rep, Haiti, Hungary, Rep of, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia Mobile, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Rep of, Macedonia, Rep of, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, Niger, Niue, Norfolk Island, Pakistan, Palau, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Wallis & Futuna, Western Samoa, Yeman Rep of
Zone 6: Cuba, Diego Garcia, Egypt, Ethiopia, French Polynesia, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Korea Democratic (North), Mali Mobile, Nicaragua, Sao Tome / Principe, Tonga, Vietnam
Coverage
Activating your service
Your South Africa phone number will be printed on a white window on the reverse of the SIM card packaging under a bar code labeled MSISDN and will begin 083.
To activate your service:
- Travel to South Africa.
- Be sure that the battery is adequately charged.
- Insert the SIM card into your GSM phone*.
- Turn your phone on.
- Enter PIN 00000 (5 zeros)^.
- Start calling.
* You will need to snap out the thumbnail sized SIM card along the perforated edge of its holder and then insert the SIM card into your international mobile phone with the gold contacts of the SIM card facing the metal contacts of your mobile phone.
^The PUK is only required to unblock your phone if you enter a PIN code incorrectly 3 times. Follow your cell phone manual instructions to correctly use the PUK to unblock your phone.
Making and receiving calls
How to make a call
To make an international call from your South Africa mobile phone dial 00 (or +), followed by the country code (1 for the US), area code and phone number.
How family and friends call you
Family and friends need to dial the international prefix, the country code 27 and your mobile phone number, omitting the first 0 (zero).
For example, when calling from the United States, callers need to dial 011 27 and then your mobile phone number.
Recharging your account
To add credit to your South Africa SIM card, you will need to purchase recharge vouchers, also called Reload codes. You will find recharge vouchers at most kiosks, petrol stations and convenience stores in South Africa. They are available in 3 denominations: R30 ($3.50 USD), R60 ($7 USD) and R180 ($22 USD).
To recharge your account:
- Purchase a recharge voucher.
- Scratch off the grey protective layer to reveal your voucher code.
- Dial 555 [SEND].
- Select option 2 at the voice prompt.
- Enter the voucher code, then press the # button.
- A voice prompt will confirm your credit balance
- Start calling.
You can dial 555 and press option 1, free of charge from your South Africa mobile phone, to find out your remaining balance on your South Africa SIM card.
Do not purchase another South Africa SIM card when your credit is depleted! You only need a recharge voucher!
Contacting Customer Service
Customer service for your South Africa SIM card is available 24/7 by dialing 173 at any time from your South Africa mobile phone or 083 173 from any other phone.
Service life
If you don't make an outgoing call within 90 days, your South Africa mobile phone number will be withdrawn from the network and any remaining credit will be forfeit.
Handset compatibility
This SIM card requires an unlocked international GSM mobile phone. If you do not have your own suitable handset, we have several models available for your review and consideration. Please click here for more information.
If you have difficulty using the service in your handset, please contact Customer service