Country Summary
| Country name | South Africa |
|---|---|
| ISO code | ZA |
| Region | Middle East & Africa |
| Mobile country code | 655 |
| Dialing code | +27 |
| Major carriers | Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom |
Guidelines
| Two-way SMS supported | No |
|---|---|
| Number portability available | Yes |
| Twilio concatenated message support | Yes |
| Message length | ----- |
| Twilio MMS support | Converted to SMS with embedded URL |
| Sending SMS to landline numbers | You cannot send SMS to a landline destination number: the Twilio REST API will throw a 400 response with error code 21614, the message will not appear in the logs, and the account will not be charged. |
| Compliance considerations | Direct marketing messages are regulated under article 16 of the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA) Code of Conduct. Unless a consumer has expressly or implicitly requested or agreed otherwise, marketing messages should not be sent on: Sundays and public holidays; Saturdays before 9am and after 1pm; and all other days between the hours of 8pm and 8am the following day.
|
Phone Numbers & Sender ID
| Preregistered | Alphanumeric | Long Code | Short Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator network capability | --- | Not Supported | Not Supported | Supported |
| Twilio supported | --- | Not Supported | Supported | Not Supported |
| Sender ID preserved | --- | --- | No | --- |
| Provisioning time | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| UCS-2 support | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Use case restrictions | -- | -- | Non-local numeric senderId would be overwritten into generic alphanumeric outside Twilio's platform whilst local numeric senderId would be delivered intact. | -- |
| Best practices | -- | -- | You may use a global SMS-capable number to reach mobile phones in South Africa. | -- |
| Preregistered | |
|---|---|
| Operator network capability | --- |
| Twilio supported | --- |
| Sender ID preserved | --- |
| Provisioning time | -- |
| UCS-2 support | -- |
| Use case restrictions | -- |
| Best practices | -- |
| Alphanumeric | |
|---|---|
| Operator network capability | Not Supported |
| Twilio supported | Not Supported |
| Sender ID preserved | --- |
| Provisioning time | -- |
| UCS-2 support | -- |
| Use case restrictions | -- |
| Best practices | -- |
| Long Code | |
|---|---|
| Operator network capability | Not Supported |
| Twilio supported | Supported |
| Sender ID preserved | No |
| Provisioning time | -- |
| UCS-2 support | -- |
| Use case restrictions | Non-local numeric senderId would be overwritten into generic alphanumeric outside Twilio's platform whilst local numeric senderId would be delivered intact. |
| Best practices | You may use a global SMS-capable number to reach mobile phones in South Africa. |
| Short Code | |
|---|---|
| Operator network capability | Supported |
| Twilio supported | Not Supported |
| Sender ID preserved | --- |
| Provisioning time | -- |
| UCS-2 support | -- |
| Use case restrictions | -- |
| Best practices | -- |
For the benefit of all our customers, these guidelines are provided to help you comply with applicable requirements and to help ensure Twilio's platform remains compliant with global telecommunications ecosystem requirements. These guidelines represent our current understanding of common compliance requirements generally applicable to Twilio and its customers, and do not constitute legal advice. By posting these guidelines, Twilio makes no assurances regarding the legal compliance of your application built using our APIs. You are expected to understand and abide by all compliance obligations applicable to your specific application. You should check these pages regularly for updates as telecommunications ecosystem requirements continue to evolve and change, and the information below may be updated or changed without notice.