Infrastructure — South Africa
Transport, communications, and energy.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Infrastructure at a glance
Transport, communications, and energy. Key figure for South Africa: 566
Immigration rules and fees change frequently — confirm current requirements on official government or embassy websites.
Transportation
- Airports - total
566
- Airports with Paved Runways
144
- Heliports
1
- Railways
12,547 Miles 20,192 Kilometers
- Roadways- total
226,260 Miles 364,131 Kilometers
- Roadways- paved
39,143 Miles 62,995 Kilometers
- Ports and Terminals
Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha
Communications
- Telephones
4,320,000
- Cell Phones
42,300,000
- Internet Users
5,100,000
- Internet Country Code
.za
- Internet Hosts
3,751,000
- Broadcast Media
- the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) operates 4 TV stations, 3 are free-to-air and 1 is pay TV
- e.tv, a private station, is accessible to more than half the population
- multiple subscription TV services provide a mix of local and international channels
- well developed mix of public and private radio stations at the national, regional, and local levels
- the SABC radio network, state-owned and controlled but nominally independent, operates 18 stations, one for each of the 11 official languages, 4 community stations, and 3 commercial stations
- more than 100 community-based stations extend coverage to rural areas
- Telephone System
- general assessment: the sy
- stem is the best developed and most modern in Africa domestic: combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular teledensity is roughly 140 telephones per 100 persons; consists of carrier-equipped open-wire lines, coaxial cables, microwave radio relay links, fiber-optic cable, radiotelephone communication stations, and wireless local loops; key centers are Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth,
- and Pretoria international: country code - 27; the SAT-3/WASC and SAFE fiber-optic submarine cable systems connect South Africa to Europe and Asia; the EASSy fiber-optic cable system connects with Europe and North America; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean)
Energy
- Electricity Consumption- Kilowatt Hours (kWh)
215,100,000,000
- Electricity Exports- Kilowatt Hours (kWh)
14,160,000,000
- Electricity Imports- Kilowatt Hours (kWh)
10,570,000,000
- Electricity Production- Kilowatt Hours (kWh)
264,000,000,000
- Natural Gas Consumption - Kilowatt Hours (kWh)
4,010,000,000
- Natural Gas Imports- Cubic Meters (cu m)
3,300,000,000
- Natural Gas Production- Cubic Meters (cu m)
1,280,000,000
- Natural Gas Reserves- Cubic Meters (cu m)
16,000,000,000
- Oil Consumption- Barrels Per Day (bbl/day)
590,900
- Oil Imports- Barrels Per Day (bbl/day)
385,100
- Oil Production- Barrels Per Day (bbl/day)
2,167,000
- Oil Reserves- Barrels Per Day (bbl/day)
15,000,000