Quick answer
Travel eSIM data in South Africa costs about $1.96 per GB on a 5GB plan (price rank 73/200, where 1 is cheapest). Networks: Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, with 5G. There are 179 mobile subscriptions per 100 people and 78% of people use the internet.
Travel eSIM data prices
| Cost per GB, 1GB plan | $3.19 |
|---|---|
| Cost per GB, 5GB plan | $1.96 |
| Cost per GB, 10GB plan | $1.70 |
| Median cost per GB (3-20GB plans) | $1.96 |
| Cheapest plan | $3.19 |
| Plans available | 6 |
| Largest plan | 20 GB |
| Rank | 73 of 200 (1 = cheapest) |
Networks · Mobile market
| Operators | Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom |
|---|---|
| Best network generation | 5G |
| 5G | Yes |
| Mobile subscriptions per 100 people | 179.3 (2024) |
| Internet users (% of population) | 78.4% (2024) |
Sources
- Slashtel live prices: cheapest retail price across every supplier we buy from, in US dollars, including our fee. Updated: 2026-10-19.
- ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators, via the World Bank (CC BY 4.0). (2024) data.worldbank.org
- Cost per GB uses the cheapest plan of each size; the median uses plans of 3 to 20GB. Top-up value is the most local credit per dollar among plans up to US$10.
Cite this data
Source: Slashtel Telecom Data, https://slashtel.com/data/south-africa (accessed 2026-10-19).<iframe src="https://slashtel.com/embed/data/south-africa" width="100%" height="200" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="South Africa mobile data prices"></iframe>
<p>Data: <a href="https://slashtel.com/data/south-africa">South Africa mobile data prices</a></p>Free to embed and reuse (CC BY 4.0) with the link.