mathematics

Telephone numbers in South Africa

Telephone numbers in South Africa is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Telephone numbers in South Africa rather than just read about it. In short: Telephone numbers in South Africa are administered by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa(ICASA). On 16 January 2007, the country switched to a closed numbering plan.

Key takeaways

Telephone numbers in South Africa belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Telephone numbers in South Africa to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Telephone numbers in South Africa from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Telephone numbers in South Africa are administered by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa(ICASA). On 16 January 2007, the country switched to a closed numbering plan. It became mandatory to dial the full nine-digit national telephone number. For calls within the country, this is prefixed by trunk code 0 (zero), which is often included in listings of the area code. Area codes within the system are generally organized geographically. Special services by Telkom have numbers with special formats. When dialed from another country, the national number is prefixed with the appropriate international access code and the telephone country code 27.

Background

History Numbers were allocated when South Africa had only four provinces, meaning that ranges are now split across the current nine provinces.

Namibia South-West Africa (including Walvis Bay) was integrated into the South African numbering plan. However, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) had already allocated country code 264 in the late 1960s. Following its independence, Namibia discontinued direct dialing from South Africa and replaced it with international dialing using country code 264. For example, for a call from South Africa to Windhoek, before and after 1992:

Before 1992: 061 xxx xxxx After 1992: 09 26461 xxx xxxx After January 2007: 00 26461 xxx xxxx

Lesotho Calls to Lesotho could be made using the access code 050 instead of the international code 266; for example, to call Maseru from South Africa, subscribers would dial 0501.

Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe Calls to Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe could similarly be made using the regional codes 0192, 0194 and 0191, respectively, instead of the international codes 267, 268 and 263.

Number ranges

00 International access code effective from 16 October 2006 and mandatory from 16 January 2007.

01 The old Transvaal province, currently comprising Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and part of the North West:

010: New overlay plan for Johannesburg 011: Witwatersrand region around Johannesburg, currently code for the entirety of Greater Johannesburg 012: Pretoria and surrounding towns (also includes Brits) 013: Eastern Gauteng (Bronkhorstspruit) and Western and northern Mpumalanga: Middelburg, Witbank and Nelspruit 014: Northern North West and Southwestern Limpopo: Rustenburg and Modimolle 015: Northern and Eastern Limpopo: Polokwane 016: Vaal Triangle: Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark and Sasolburg, which constitutes an anomaly, since Sasolburg isn't the old Transvaal. 017: Southern Mpumalanga: Ermelo 018: Southern North West: Mahikeng, Lichtenburg, Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp

02 Two-thirds of the old Cape province, now comprising Western and Northern Cape:

021: Cape Town metropole and surrounds, including Stellenbosch, Somerset West and Gordon's Bay 022: Boland and West Coast: Malmesbury 023: Worcester and greater Karoo, including Beaufort West 027: Namaqualand (Northern Cape): Vredendal, Calvinia, Clanwilliam, Springbok, Alexander Bay, Port Nolloth 028: Southern region: Swellendam and Caledon / Hermanus region.

03 KwaZulu-Natal:

031: Durban 032: KZN North coast region: Verulam, Tongaat, Ballito and Stanger 033: Pietermaritzburg and KwaZulu-Natal Midlands 034: Vryheid, Newcastle and Northern KZN 035: Zululand region: St. Lucia, Richards Bay, Ulundi 036: Drakensberg region: Ladysmith 039: KwaZulu-Natal South Coast region: Port Shepstone and interior, and Eastern Pondoland (in Eastern Cape)

04 Remainder of one-third of old Cape province, now comprising Eastern Cape and eastern parts of the Western Cape:

040: Bhisho 041: Gqeberha and Uitenhage 042: Southern region: Humansdorp 043: East London and surrounds 044: Garden Route, including Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Mossel Bay and George 045: Central region: Queenstown 046: Southern region: Grahamstown, Bathurst, Port Alfred, Kenton-on-Sea 047: Mthatha / most of previous Transkei 048: Northern region: Steynsburg 049: Western region: Graaff-Reinet

05 Free State and Northern Cape

051: Central and southern region: Bloemfontein, and Aliwal North in E Cape 053: Kimberley, eastern part of Northern Cape, far west of NW province 054: Upington, Gordonia region 056: Northern Free State: Kroonstad 057: Northern Free State: Welkom (Goldfields region) 058: Eastern Free State: Bethlehem

06 (Cellular) Cellular

0600: Cellular: Used by Liquid Telecommunications (South Africa) 0601 - 0602: Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) 0603 - 0605: Cellular: Used by MTN 0606 - 0609: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 061: Cellular: Used by Cell C 062: Cellular: Used by Cell C 0630 - 0635: Cellular: Used by MTN 0636 - 0637: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 0640: Cellular: Used by MTN 0641 - 0645: Cellular: Used by Cell C 0646 - 0649: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 0650 - 0654: Cellular: Used by Cell C 0655 - 0657: Cellular: Used by MTN 0658 - 0659: Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) 066: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 0670 - 0672: Cellular: Used by TelkomSA 0673 - 0675: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 0676 - 0679: Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) 0680 - 0685: Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) 0686 - 0689: Cellular: Used by MTN 0690: Cellular: Used by MTN 0691 - 0699: Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta)

07 (Cellular) 0710: Cellular: Used by MTN 0711 - 0716: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 0717 - 0719: Cellular: Used by MTN 072: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 073: Cellular: Used by MTN 074: Cellular: Used by Cell C 0741: Cellular: Used by: Virgin Mobile as of June 2006 to September 2021 076: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 0771 - 0775: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 078: Cellular: Used by MTN 079: Cellular: Used by Vodacom

Cellular 0810: Cellular: Used by MTN 0811 - 0815: Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) 0816: Cellular: Used by Rain 0817: Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) 0818: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 0819: Cellular: Used by TelkomSA (8.ta) 082: Cellular: Used by Vodacom 083: Cellular: Used by MTN 084: Cellular: Used by Cell C

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Telephone numbers in South Africa

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Telephone numbers in South Africa claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Telephone numbers in South Africa before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Telephone numbers in South Africa ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Telephone numbers in South Africa

In research: Telephone numbers in South Africa appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Telephone numbers in South Africa in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Telephone numbers in South Africa is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics South Africa communications-related lists, Telecommunications in South Africa, Telephone numbers by country, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Telephone numbers in South Africa outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Telephone numbers in South Africa in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Telephone numbers in South Africa means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Telephone numbers in South Africa out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Telephone numbers in South Africa in simple terms?

Telephone numbers in South Africa are administered by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa(ICASA). On 16 January 2007, the country switched to a closed numbering plan.

Why does Telephone numbers in South Africa matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Telephone numbers in South Africa?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Telephone numbers in South Africa.