The cheapest way to call family in other African countries from South Africa
Check the price before you dial. Here is how.
Millions of people in South Africa have family in Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, the DRC and beyond. WhatsApp calls are the first choice, and when both sides have data and a smartphone, they are hard to beat.
The trouble starts when they do not. A grandmother with a basic phone. A village with network but no data. A hospital or a school with only a landline. Then you need a real phone call to a real number, and from a South African SIM that is expensive.
Here are the options, honestly compared.
- A normal call from your SIM. It always works and it costs the most. Rates to other African countries are among the highest your network charges.
- An international bundle. Cheaper per minute, but it covers certain countries, expires, and charges out-of-bundle rates when it runs out.
- A calling app that phones real numbers. You need internet; the person you call needs only a phone that rings. You pay per second from a prepaid balance.
Ukutel is the third kind. You load Cloud Airtime in rands and call the number directly from the app. The person at home sees your South African number and answers as they always do.
One warning that applies to every provider, including us: rates to African countries vary widely, and calling a mobile usually costs more than calling a landline. Do not rely on anyone's "from" price. Look up the exact country and number type first. The calculator on our World Call page shows the real rate per second before you spend a cent.
Two habits save the most money. Keep calls to numbers, not to long hold queues. And top up a larger amount less often; top-up airtime with us does not expire, so nothing is lost by loading ahead.