Company: Vodacom South Africa
Country: South Africa
Sector: Telecommunications
CEO: Sitholizwe Mdlalose
Website: https://www.vodacom.co.za
Careers Page: Not publicly listed
LinkedIn: Not publicly listed
Email: Not publicly listed
Headquarters: Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Founded: 1994
Valuation/Revenue: $5.24bn revenue (African Business Top 250, 2025 ranking, South African operating subsidiary only)
Vodacom South Africa is the domestic South African operating business of Vodacom Group, the pan-African telecommunications operator majority-owned by UK-based Vodafone. It provides mobile voice, data, fibre, and fixed broadband services, along with the VodaPay digital wallet and other financial and lifestyle services, to South African consumers and businesses.
What Does Vodacom South Africa Do?
Vodacom South Africa is the country’s largest mobile network operator by subscribers, offering prepaid and contract mobile plans, mobile data, fibre-to-the-home, 5G home internet, and enterprise connectivity services. Beyond core telecoms, it has expanded into financial services through VodaPay (a super-app combining payments, lending, insurance, and shopping) and continues to invest in network infrastructure, including fibre rollout and 5G expansion across urban and peri-urban South Africa. It operates as the flagship domestic market within the broader Vodacom Group, which also has operations in Tanzania, DRC, Mozambique, Lesotho, and other African markets, plus a large stake in Safaricom (Kenya/Ethiopia).
Is Vodacom South Africa Legit?
Yes. Vodacom is one of South Africa’s oldest and largest mobile operators, launched in 1994 as one of the country’s first two GSM networks, and remains central to South African telecoms infrastructure with tens of millions of subscribers.
How Big Is Vodacom South Africa?
As a standalone operating segment, Vodacom South Africa ranked 30th on African Business magazine’s Top 250 Companies in Africa for 2025, with revenue of approximately $5.24bn. This figure covers the domestic South African business only and excludes Vodacom Group’s other African operating companies and its Safaricom stake, which together make Vodacom Group substantially larger on a consolidated basis; Vodacom Group has reported double-digit service revenue growth in its broader African business into fiscal year 2027, per company trading updates.
Who Runs Vodacom South Africa?
Sitholizwe Mdlalose has served as Managing Director and executive director of Vodacom South Africa since 1 July 2022, overseeing the domestic operating company. He reports into the broader Vodacom Group structure, where Shameel Joosub has long served as Group Chief Executive Officer, and where the group’s board has recently added former Airtel Africa CEO Segun Ogunsanya as an independent non-executive director (announced August 2026), alongside the planned retirement of long-serving chairperson Saki Macozoma after a decade in the role.
Who Owns Vodacom South Africa?
Vodacom South Africa is a subsidiary of Vodacom Group Limited, which is itself majority-owned by UK-headquartered Vodafone Group, with the remainder held by public shareholders on the JSE (Vodacom Group is separately listed) and South African empowerment shareholders through structures such as YeboYethu.
Is Vodacom Publicly Traded?
Vodacom Group Limited, the parent, is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, though Vodacom South Africa itself is an operating subsidiary rather than a separately listed entity.
How Does Vodacom Compare to Its Competitors?
In South Africa, Vodacom’s principal rivals are MTN South Africa, Telkom, and Cell C/Rain in mobile and fixed broadband, and it competes with banks and fintechs in the digital-payments space through VodaPay. Across the wider African continent, Vodacom Group competes with MTN Group and Airtel Africa for market share in multiple overlapping markets.
What Has Vodacom Been in the News For Recently?
Recent coverage has focused on Vodacom Group’s board changes — including the addition of former Airtel Africa CEO Segun Ogunsanya as a non-executive director and the upcoming retirement of chairperson Saki Macozoma — alongside continued profit growth attributed to African market expansion and rising service revenue, reported by the group in its FY2027 first-quarter trading update (July 2026).
How Do I Apply for a Job at Vodacom South Africa?
Vodacom recruits through the careers section of the broader Vodacom Group corporate site and dedicated graduate and bursary programmes aimed at building technical and digital skills pipelines in South Africa. As one of the country’s largest private-sector employers in the technology space, Vodacom South Africa employs thousands of staff across network operations, retail, customer service, and its growing fintech and digital businesses, and it has historically run broad-based black economic empowerment ownership schemes such as YeboYethu, giving ordinary South Africans a route to share ownership in the company.
Links
Website: https://www.vodacom.co.za
Careers Page: Not found
LinkedIn: Not found
Email: Not publicly listed
FAQ
What does Vodacom South Africa do?
It provides mobile, fibre, and 5G home internet services plus the VodaPay digital finance platform to South African consumers and businesses.
Who owns Vodacom South Africa?
It is a subsidiary of Vodacom Group, which is majority-owned by Vodafone Group plc, with the balance held by JSE public shareholders and empowerment structures.
Who is the CEO of Vodacom South Africa?
Sitholizwe Mdlalose has been Managing Director of Vodacom South Africa since July 2022; Shameel Joosub is CEO of the wider Vodacom Group.
Is Vodacom a South African company?
Yes, Vodacom launched in South Africa in 1994 and remains headquartered there, though its parent group now operates across multiple African countries.
How much revenue does Vodacom South Africa make?
Approximately $5.24bn per African Business magazine’s 2025 Top 250 ranking, for the domestic operating business alone.
Is Vodacom publicly traded?
Vodacom Group, the parent company, is listed on the JSE; Vodacom South Africa itself is an internal operating subsidiary.