Plugs & voltage in South Africa
Types C, M and N · 230 V · 50 Hz
No other country of the 139 uses exactly this combination, Types C, M and N. The closest match is Brazil (C/N). Type N (IEC 60906-1 / NBR 14136 / SANS 164-2) is rare: besides South Africa, only Brazil uses it. Crossing into Zimbabwe means a different plug: no socket type matches.
Do I need an adapter for South Africa?
Where are you travelling from?
Adapter, and mind the voltage.
230 V here, 120 V at home.
Bring an adapter to Types C, M or N.
Bring an adapter to Types C, M or N.
Type C plugs fit; Type E/F plugs need an adapter to Types C, M or N.
Bring an adapter to Types C, M or N.
Bring an adapter to Types C, M or N.
Bring an adapter to Types C, M or N.
Types C and M plugs fit; Type D plugs need an adapter to Types C, M or N.
Adapter, and mind the voltage.
230 V here, 100 V at home.
The power supply
Also in the data
Travellers from all seven home regions we track need an adapter here.
Next door the nominal figure varies within the same range: Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe list 220 V, while Botswana shares the 230 V used here.
Crossing a border
4 neighbours: 3 sharing at least one type and 1 with none in common.
- BotswanaD/G/M · 230 VShares a type · same voltage
- MozambiqueC/F/M · 220 VShares a type · same voltage
- NamibiaD/M · 220 VShares a type · same voltage
- ZimbabweD/G · 220 VDifferent plugs · same voltage
The plug types used here
Guides: Countries with several plug types, ranked · The 15 plug types explained
Source: Wikidata Q258; regions: UN M49 (Sub-Saharan Africa). Sources & method