The internet is an international place but with regional differences, depending on where you connect from. A VPN connects users to the country they choose, making it easier to see what users in South Africa or Spain might see from their local websites; however, what do South Africa’s internet trends and habits have to say about the country and its users? Here’s a look at South Africa’s information highway, and whether it’s as wrought with potholes as many of its tarred ones.
Data prices: E-toll
According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation (2022), more of Africa’s youth are pushing for internet access – but data costs are still one of their biggest obstacles. Data is expensive, and especially expensive for many African countries. Yet data is essential to stay connected to the rest of the world. Buying data is often as essential as purchasing food. People don’t apply their data just to stream movies or listen to music. Data can be their only connection to friends or family, a means to communicate in an emergency, or an essential for studying or working. In Africa and perhaps the rest of the world, someone without data is cut off from the technologies that run this era. Data is comparative to paying toll fees for the information highway. Without paying for it, you’ll find it difficult to go forward.
Data prices are different in various parts of the world. According to the Global Digital Inclusion Partnership, South Africa pays approximately $8,94 per GB. Comparatively, Colombia pays $12,36, India $0,88 and Indonesia $1,29. Kenya ranks as the cheapest in Africa at $2,19. Some countries pay more, while others pay less. South Africa’s internet data doesn’t rank as the world’s most expensive, but anyone who has ever had to pay for internet in this country will also know that it’s not the cheapest.
Experienced users will already know that cost also depends on your mobile network, how much data you’re buying and when this data might expire. Special data bundles can provide data for specific websites (eg, YouTube), or cheaper data bundles for a week than for 30 days or longer.
Internet cafes aren’t always a practical option in South Africa. An internet cafe can be expensive, charging for the time users are in front of the terminal. Internet cafes can also be far from home or potentially dangerous – sometimes they are simply located in a busy area you don’t want to be stuck in after dark. Free Wi-Fi connections have the same issue, and internet security experts advise against using public connections for personal or private web visits.
Devices: Mobile Africa
According to 2024 survey data (Statista), as much as 90% of South Africans use the internet from a mobile device or smartphone. Smartphones have become cheaper and easier to access, as most forms of technology eventually do. Someone with a couple dollars can find a phone that’s more powerful than what would have been called a supercomputer in the ’80s or ’90s. Phones can be used to communicate and to study; however, phones can also be the first thing someone lifts once you’re in a crowd. (Tourists visiting Brazil are cautioned to carry a decoy phone and wallet, in case of a mugging; this isn’t necessarily a bad idea for most parts of the world.)
Computers are used less, usually restricted to internet cafes or areas where people have free access to cheaper broadband connections. Professional PC and console gaming is taking off in South Africa, but this is staggered, as much of the country simply can’t afford basic devices or internet yet.
Coding is soon to be a subject for South African schools. However, the cost of data stands as an obvious obstacle between knowledge and its practical use. Who knows what South Africans could achieve if their internet access were just a little bit cheaper and more widely available?
Top websites: Destinations
Semrush provides a small window into what South Africans are accessing. Their list of most visited websites in South Africa for 2025 shows the following websites trending: Google, YouTube, Facebook, an adult video website, Takealot, Betway, Hollywood Bets, Netflix and, perhaps unsurprisingly, another adult video website. More of the list’s notable website mentions are Reddit, TikTok, Temu, WhatsApp and ChatGPT.
According to Showmax, its top five streamed shows by South Africans for 2024 were:
- Adulting
- Empini
- House of the dragon
- The Showmax roast of Minnie Dlamini
- Red ink
Specific data bundles for social media or streaming keep some websites top-ranked, even for users who may not have enough to access the internet via a full-time, high-speed connection.
Keywords (according to Google)
Google Trends can display what keywords users are searching for on any particular day. The most searched-for topics can be an influence on news or content websites, swinging what’s written about for the day towards what people are reading for. High-ranked topics draw readers. A day in mid-May 2025 shows that users were searching for soccer results as the day’s top five keywords:
- espanyol vs barcelona
- osasuna vs atlético madrid
- espanyol vs fc barcelona timeline
- rayo vallecano vs real betis
- getafe vs athletic club
People aren’t searching for headline news; instead, sports betting has become widely popular, and people care more about whether their team might have won. The same day shows that people were also searching for “chris brown” and “ticketmaster”, as well as “ntokozo makhaza” and “daily lotto results”. Further down, users were looking up “petrol prices”, “epic games” and “loadshedding today”.
South Africa’s internet highway is paved with high data prices, limited internet access and the potential silver lining of winning a jackpot. Other countries might instead be looking up popular songs or news, or be using their data to run their online businesses – this isn’t as easy for many stressed, poorer South Africans, who have to focus on survival before high-speed internet. Let’s remember that the road to hell was paved with good intentions. Who knows what South Africans could achieve on the information highway with better, cheaper internet access?
