Data centers in South Africa
Datacenter Atlas tracks 75 facilities in South Africa, 72 data centers and 3 network points of presence: 0.9% of the global inventory and #22 worldwide by facility count.
Compare with another country →
MW: megawatts of power for the computers. PUE: all the electricity a site draws divided by what reaches its computers (1.0 = nothing lost). Networks present: telecom networks recorded at each site, added up. Record quality (A to D) rates the record, not the site. Glossary →
Map
Largest hubs
- Johannesburg56
- Cape Town11
- Durban3
- Ballito1
- Gqeberha1
- Groot Drakenstein1
- Mtunzini1
A hub is a town with at least 5 facilities, with its close neighbours. Facilities in smaller towns are not listed here, so the hubs do not add up to the country total.
Top operators
All 75 facilities
Sorted by disclosed IT load, then networks present. A row opens the full, source-linked record on the map. No PUE is disclosed for any of these sites, so the column is hidden.
Disclosed IT load by state / region
| State / region | MW | Figures |
|---|---|---|
| Gauteng | 20 | 1 |
Disclosed values only, campus figures counted once. Regions are assigned from each facility's coordinates (Natural Earth admin-1), so the rows add up to the national total.
⚡ Electricity context
- Electricity demand
- 236.8 TWh (2025)
- Grid carbon intensity
- 699 gCO₂/kWh
- Renewables share
- 13.6 %
- Low-carbon share
- 17.8 %
Source: Ember yearly electricity data (CC BY 4.0). Method
Water & climate exposure
- Data centers at high water stress (index ≥ 60)
- 63 of the 69 scored · 3 located at town level only are not scored
- Median baseline water stress (WRI Aqueduct, 0–5)
- 5
- Median riverine flood risk (0–5)
- 1.1
- Free-cooling hours ≤ 18 °C (median)
- 4,373 h/yr (50 %)
- Median cooling degree days
- 715
Derived indicators: WRI Aqueduct 4.0, GHSL, climate normals. See methodology. Method
Social friction index
Main driver: Water (87/100)
Water stress at this location today and in 2050, plus drought risk (WRI Aqueduct).
- Water
- Energy & grid
- Neighbourhood
- Concentration
- Policy context
- Observed conflict
Composite of water, grid, neighbourhood, concentration, policy and observed-conflict pressure. A derived indicator: not a measurement of public opinion. Method
Regulation
1 measure recorded
See the rules on the regulation map → · Compare with neighbouring countries →
Documented local conflicts & agreements
- South African civil groups call for data centre halt pending rights inquiry · 2026-09 · other · ongoing
Announced large projects
No announced project ≥ 100 MW tracked yet.
Questions
How many data centers are there in South Africa?
Datacenter Atlas (release 26.08-c2) records 75 facilities in South Africa: 72 data centers, 3 network points of presence and 0 unclassified sites. The count covers facilities documented in OpenStreetMap, PeeringDB, Wikidata and operator disclosures.
Which companies operate data centers in South Africa?
The operators with the most tracked facilities in South Africa are Open Access Data Centres, Teraco, Digital Realty, Teraco Data Environments Pty Ltd, Africa Data Centres.
Where are data centers concentrated in South Africa?
The largest hubs by facility count are Johannesburg (56), Cape Town (11), Durban (3), Ballito (1), Gqeberha (1).
Cite this page: Datacenter Atlas (2026). South Africa, release 26.08-c2. https://www.datacenter-atlas.com/country/south-africa · ODbL / CC BY 4.0