While 82.1% of South Africans have access to the internet in some form, data from the State of the ICT Sector 2026 Report, put out by ICASA, shows that internet usage is heavily dominated by mobile connectivity. In 2024, over 75% of South Africans accessed the internet via mobile data, with KwaZulu-Natal recording the highest usage at 80% and the Northern Cape the lowest at 65.3%.

In contrast, the next most-used form of internet access, fixed internet access at home, remains significantly limited, with only 17.4% of the population having a regular home connection. Regional disparities are also pronounced in this category, with the richer provinces such as the Western Cape showing the highest level of fixed internet access at 44.9%, while provinces such as Mpumalanga (5.6%), Limpopo (7.0%), KwaZulu-Natal (7.5%), North West (7.5%) and Eastern Cape (8%) record the lowest. These figures highlight a clear digital divide in South Africa, where mobile internet overwhelmingly outweighs fixed-line connectivity as the dominant mode of access.