Cape Town eSIM
In Cape Town you connect to Vodacom or MTN, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The typical speed across the country is 42 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- Vodacom and MTN
- Typical speed in South Africa
- 42 Mbps typical, 10 Mbps at busy times
- 5G
- yes, non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Cape Town
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $7.89 | $7.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $4.63 | $13.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $3.78 | $18.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $3.09 | $30.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $2.84 | $56.89 |
How South Africa compares across Africa
- Regional typical speed
- 29.5 Mbps
- Upstream networks
- 2, Vodacom, MTN
- 5G
- Yes, non standalone
- Next fastest nearby
- Mauritius, 52 Mbps
- Next slowest nearby
- Seychelles, 41 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 3: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban
Landing at Cape Town International Airport (CPT)
- Airport
- CPT / FACT
- Distance
- 20 km from the centre of Cape Town
- Wifi on arrival
- Free wifi in the terminalNetwork is # AIRPORTS FREE, giving 1GB of data over 4 hours at Cape Town International. You are redirected to a login portal and register with an email address. After the free allowance you can buy data on # AIRPORTS PREMIUM Wi-Fi.
Getting into Cape Town
- Metered taxi or ride-hailing to the CBD (CPT), about 18 minutes
- N2 freeway (exit 16) and Airport Approach Road (CPT)
Worth knowing about Cape Town
- Cape Town International has no rail link at all: a proposed 4 km connection to the suburban network has never been built, so every transfer is by road.
- A taxi from the airport to the CBD takes about 18 minutes over roughly 20 km.
- The airport is arranged as separate domestic and international terminals joined by a Central Terminal Building, so domestic connections involve a walk between buildings.
- The Western Cape Government public wifi network is WCG_LiquidHotspot. You select it, wait for the landing page and click Access the Internet. No registration, phone number or SMS code is needed.
- WCG_LiquidHotspot gives 3GB per device per month at speeds of at least 10Mbps, with a further 3GB available per month, and South African government websites are permanently free to browse.
- Western Cape public wifi hotspots sit at roughly 2,000 government sites, including more than 1,200 schools, nearly 300 health facilities and over 200 libraries, across every municipality.
- City of Cape Town public wifi zones give 50MB of free data per day. They cover over 100 public buildings, the Company's Gardens, public transport interchanges including the City Centre, and selected MyCiTi buses.
- SmartCape gives free internet access at all City libraries. Casual users get 50MB a day, while registered library members get 100MB a month over wifi or 45 minutes a day on a library computer.
- The MyCiTi airport bus was suspended on 1 December 2022 because demand did not recover after Covid restrictions and diesel prices rose. MyCiTi's airport services page still shows the service as temporarily suspended.
- MyCiTi fares are paid with a myconnect card, which costs R40 and is bought and loaded at MyCiTi station kiosks, participating retailers or online. You tap in and tap out to pay.
- A South African SIM is activated only after RICA registration succeeds. Visitors register in person with a valid passport, and South African Tourism says to bring a letter from your hotel as evidence of accommodation.
- RICA registration also asks for proof of physical address, meaning a document such as a bank statement, insurance policy, TV licence or vehicle licence carrying your name and address.
- South African Tourism says RICA activation can take up to 24 hours after a visitor registers in person at a customer service centre, so a local number may not work immediately on arrival.
- Cape Town International lists car hire, shuttles and taxis as the transport options. Authorised airport taxis work from transport kiosks and the domestic arrivals desk in the Central Terminal Building, alongside Uber and Bolt.
- Shuttle operators pick up from the international inner lane, with a representative of each service meeting passengers at the arrivals terminals. The airport warns against unsolicited taxi or shuttle drivers.
Sources for this page
Other cities in South Africa we cover
- Johannesburg
- 1262 km from Cape Town, nearest airport JNB
- Durban
- 1272 km from Cape Town, nearest airport DUR