New telephone dialling system for South Africa.

10 Jan, 2007

As of 16 January it will become mandatory to dial the full ten-digit telephone number including the three-digit area code even for local calls. Until now a person making a fixed line to fixed line call within the same area has only had to dial the seven-digit local number without the area prefix.

The new system, introduced by national telephone provider Telkom and which has been operational alongside the old regime since 16 October 2006, is in line with legal requirements and will boost the potential for new numbers in the future. The trunk prefix and area code for the Cape Town area including Stellenbosch, Somerset West and Gordon