Before you start

A valid passport — the accepted identity document for a foreigner under RICA
Proof of a South African address under three months old, or an affidavit or host letter in its place
An unlocked handset, eSIM-capable if you want to land connected
R100-R400 for the SIM and a first data bundle

Step-by-step

1
Buy a travel eSIM before you fly
An eSIM from a provider such as Airalo or Holafly activates on landing at OR Tambo with no RICA and no queue, which matters because the drive to Pretoria is an hour and you will want maps and a ride-hail app working before you start it. South African plans run from around US$4 for a few gigabytes to roughly US$20-25 for a month. Keep it afterwards as a fallback for the days your local network has a problem.
Mobile appWho: You, before departureFive minutes; live on landingRoughly US$4-25 depending on allowance
2
Buy a prepaid starter SIM and complete RICA
Starter SIMs are sold at carrier stores in Menlyn, Brooklyn and Centurion, at airport kiosks, and in every Checkers, Pick n Pay and Woolworths. The SIM carries no traffic until RICA registration is done: present your passport and proof of address in store, or self-register in the carrier app by scanning your passport and recording a short verification video. Activation takes from minutes to about 24 hours. Confirm it is live before leaving the counter — an unregistered SIM simply never connects and gives no useful error.
In personWho: You, at a carrier store or retailer15-30 minutes; up to 24 hours to activateSIM R1-R100 depending on outlet
3
Pick the network for your actual geography
Vodacom and MTN lead independent Gauteng network testing and are the safe default across Tshwane, including the N1 commute and the routes out to Hartbeespoort and the Magaliesberg. Cell C and Telkom are cheaper and adequate in the dense eastern suburbs but thin out towards Rosslyn, Cullinan and the metro's rural edges. Rain sells contract-free data-only SIMs that work as a cheap second connection at home.
In personWho: YouSame visitRain uncapped mobile data roughly R250-R500/mo if added
4
Convert airtime into a bundle before you browse
Top up at a till, ATM or in the app, then buy a data bundle — out-of-bundle rates are punishing and are how newcomers lose several hundred rand in an afternoon without noticing. Bundles are bought by USSD (*135*2# on Vodacom, *136*2# on MTN) or in the app, at roughly R85 for 1GB, R150 for 10GB and R350 for 50GB a month. ICASA's end-user rules oblige operators to roll most unused bundle data over, so the larger bundle is now the rational buy. WhatsApp is the default channel for landlords, tradespeople and schools alike.
Mobile appWho: YouTwo minutes, instantAbout R85/1GB, R150/10GB, R350/50GB
5
Order home fibre — after checking the complex, not before
Find which network is in your street (Openserve, Vumatel, Frogfoot, MetroFibre or Herotel), then pick an ISP that resells on it: Afrihost, Webafrica, Cool Ideas, RSAWEB and Vox all compete over the same lines. Uncapped home fibre runs roughly R400-R900 a month. In a sectional-title complex or an estate, ask the body corporate or managing agent which operators hold wayleave — many developments are contractually tied to a single network, and that decision was made long before you arrived. Keep a small UPS on the router: national load shedding is suspended, but load reduction and local faults still take streets dark.
OnlineWho: You, with an ISP and your body corporate or landlordInstall typically 1-3 weeks where the line existsFibre R400-R900/mo; router UPS R900-R2,500

Documents you’ll need

Valid passport for RICA identity verification
Proof of a South African address under three months old
Affidavit or host letter where no bill is in your name
An unlocked phone, eSIM-capable if possible
Landlord or body corporate consent for a fibre installation

Things most newcomers don’t know

RICA needs proof of a South African address, not just identity — so a phone number is gated by exactly the same document as a bank account, and you hit it on day one.

The intuitive sequence is SIM, then bank account, then lease. Address proof breaks it at step one. A letter from your guesthouse or short-let host, or a free affidavit from any SAPS station, satisfies it — and asking for that letter while you are still checked in is dramatically easier than requesting it by email after you have moved out.

Source: RICA (Act 70 of 2002); Vodacom and MTN RICA requirements

Never use data on raw airtime. Out-of-bundle rates run an order of magnitude above bundle rates, and a handset falls back onto them silently the moment a bundle runs out.

This is the most common way newcomers lose money on South African telecoms, and there is no warning until the balance is empty. Buy the bundle by USSD before using data, enable the carrier's out-of-bundle block in the app, and buy larger bundles now that ICASA's rules require most unused data to roll over.

Source: ICASA end-user and subscriber service charter regulations

In a Pretoria complex or estate, which fibre network you can use is decided by the body corporate's wayleave agreements, not by you. Building-level exclusivity is entirely normal.

The ISP market looks competitive from outside and can be a monopoly of one at your front door. Ask the letting agent which operator serves the building and what line speed is available at that specific unit before signing — 'which ISPs are available in Pretoria' is a different question with a much happier and completely irrelevant answer.

Source: Body corporate wayleave practice; South African fibre network operators

Keep a UPS on the router even though national load shedding is suspended. Eskom load reduction still cuts overloaded residential feeders during the 05:00-09:00 and 17:00-22:00 peaks, and Tshwane's own distribution network has its own faults.

Load reduction is a distinct mechanism — protecting individual transformers from burning out rather than balancing national supply — so it survives the end of load shedding, is scheduled, local, and lands on exactly the hours you would be working. A R1,500 UPS keeps the fibre terminal and router alive; mobile towers usually hold long enough to hotspot.

Source: Eskom load reduction notices, 2026; City of Tshwane outage notices

Common mistakes to avoid

Buying a SIM and not completing RICA, or assuming the airport vendor did it — an unregistered SIM never connects and gives no explanatory error.
Browsing before buying a data bundle and being billed out-of-bundle rates that empty an airtime balance in an afternoon.
Signing a lease in a complex without asking which fibre operator holds wayleave, then finding the ISP you wanted cannot serve the building.
Choosing Telkom or Cell C on price and then losing coverage on the drives to Rosslyn, Cullinan or Hartbeespoort.
Treating the end of load shedding as the end of power interruptions and skipping the router UPS — load reduction and local faults still take streets dark at peak.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.