Is a phone number required to place outbound calls?

No. You can dial out without ever buying a dedicated phone number.

Is it possible to take incoming calls in the browser?

Yes. To receive calls you just add your own US/Canada digital number, priced from $2.14 to $5/month.

🇬🇧 ➔ 🇿🇦UK to South Africa

Calling South Africa
from the UK
Dial 00 + 27

Calling from the United Kingdom, South Africa sits behind the +27 country code. Intercalling gives you low per minute rates and pay as you go pricing, so you reach any South African number from a browser tab with no codes to memorise and nothing to install.

Rates and facts

Outbound: Dial out with no dedicated number to buy.
Inbound: Add a US/Canada digital number from $2.14 to $5/month.
No apps: Runs in Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox.

🇿🇦

Dialing South Africa Step by Step

UK Exit Code

Begin with 00, the standard prefix the UK uses for any international call.

SA Country Code

Add 27, the country code that routes you into South Africa.

Area Code

Finish with the city code, such as 21 for Cape Town, followed by the number. Leave off the leading zero.

South African Area Codes

Johannesburg

Gauteng

Cape Town

Western Cape

Durban

KwaZulu-Natal

Pretoria

Gauteng

Port Elizabeth

Eastern Cape

Bloemfontein

Free State

East London

Eastern Cape

A Note on Connectivity

South Africa goes through "load shedding," meaning scheduled power cuts. When a landline stays silent, dial the mobile number instead. Intercalling reaches landlines and mobiles alike with clear quality and the same low rates.

Making an international call from a laptop

Call from any browser

No app and no SIM. Place the call from your computer or phone in seconds.

World map of Intercalling calling coverage

Low rates to 190+ destinations

Clear per minute pricing, shown before you dial. Pay as you go, no monthly fee.

One balance, every device

Start on your laptop, continue on your phone, all at the same low rate.

Calling South Africa from United Kingdom: what to know

South Africa answers on the country code +27, with the capital in Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative) and most business concentrated around Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The working language for business is English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, and 8 other official languages, and local offices generally keep hours of 8:00 to 17:00. Load-shedding (scheduled electricity outages) frequently interrupts business calls, many companies publish schedules so calls can be timed around outages.

From United Kingdom the outbound access code is 00, so a manual dial reads 00 then +27 then the local number. Intercalling removes that step: the call goes through your browser, so there is nothing to install and no SIM card to swap when you travel between United Kingdom and South Africa.

Most mobiles in South Africa sit on operators such as Vodacom, MTN South Africa, Cell C. Voice calls remain the dominant business channel because mobile data is comparatively expensive.

South Africa runs on UTC plus 2, and it does not observe daylight saving, so the time difference stays constant through the year.

How to dial South Africa from United Kingdom

Dial the exit code 00

00 is the international access code used when dialing out of United Kingdom. On a mobile you can press and hold 0 to enter the plus sign instead.

Enter the country code +27

+27 routes the call to South Africa.

Add the local number

Dial the destination number without its leading 0. For Johannesburg that means including the area code 11.

Rates to South Africa (+27)

Pay as you go, billed per minute with no connection surprises. A sample 10 minute call is shown for each line type.

Line type	Per minute	10 minute call
Mobile	$0.1432	$1.43
Landline	$0.1050	$1.05

Line type

Per minute

10 minute call

Mobile

$0.1432

$1.43

Landline

$0.1050

$1.05

Rates as of 2026-07-05, in US dollars, and subject to change. The exact rate is always confirmed in the dialer before you connect.

Frequently asked questions

How do I call South Africa from United Kingdom?+

Dial 00 then +27 followed by the local number without its leading 0. From a browser on Intercalling you simply enter the number and press call, with no exit code to remember.

What is the country code for South Africa?+

The country code for South Africa is +27. Johannesburg uses the area code 11.

What is the best time to call South Africa?+

The destination is 2 hours ahead of you. Calling between 09:00 to 15:00 your time reaches South Africa during its working day (11:00 to 17:00 local time).

Do I need to install an app to call South Africa?+

No. Intercalling runs in your browser on Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox, so you can place the call without downloading anything or buying a phone number for outbound calls.

Can I receive calls as well?+

Outbound calls need no number. To receive inbound calls you add a US or Canada digital number, billed monthly, and answer it in the same browser tab.

Calling South Africa
from the UK
Dial 00 + 27

Rates and facts