Largest Cities in South Africa 2026: Population Ranking

South Africa's cities at a glance

Updated October 2026

Dots sized by population · Johannesburg in orange

South Africa has 6 cities with more than a million inhabitants and 71 with more than 100,000 (city-proper figures). The largest is Johannesburg with 9,418,183 people, followed by Cape Town (4,772,846) and Durban (3,338,026). The three largest cities together hold about 26.7% of the country's 65.7 million people.

The capital, Pretoria, is the 4th largest city with 2,112,693 people — Johannesburg is 4.5× larger.

By region, the most large cities are in Gauteng (24), KwaZulu-Natal (10), Eastern Cape (8).

Country-level figures — live population, births and deaths, growth, density and history — are on the South Africa population page; provinces, terrain, rivers and society maps are in the South Africa atlas.

South Africa cities by population

71 cities · GeoNames · city proper

#	City	Region	Population	Share of South Africa
1	Johannesburg	Gauteng	9,418,183	14.3%
2	Cape Town	Western Cape	4,772,846	7.3%
3	Durban	KwaZulu-Natal	3,338,026	5.1%
4	PretoriaCapital	Gauteng	2,112,693	3.2%
5	Soweto	Gauteng	1,695,047	2.6%
6	Gqeberha	Eastern Cape	1,050,078	1.6%
7	Soshanguve	Gauteng	872,309	1.3%
8	Pietermaritzburg	KwaZulu-Natal	839,327	1.3%
9	Evaton	Gauteng	725,468	1.1%
10	Benoni	Gauteng	605,344	0.9%
11	Bloemfontein	Free State	556,637	0.8%
12	Thembisa	Gauteng	511,655	0.8%
13	East London	Eastern Cape	478,676	0.7%
14	Vereeniging	Gauteng	474,681	0.7%
15	Boksburg	Gauteng	445,168	0.7%
16	Welkom	Free State	431,944	0.7%
17	Newcastle	KwaZulu-Natal	404,838	0.6%
18	Krugersdorp	Gauteng	378,821	0.6%
19	Rustenburg	North West	373,695	0.6%
20	Emalahleni	Mpumalanga	373,403	0.6%
21	Randburg	Gauteng	337,053	0.5%
22	Roodepoort	Gauteng	326,416	0.5%
23	Botshabelo	Free State	309,714	0.5%
24	Brakpan	Gauteng	305,692	0.5%
25	Kariega	Eastern Cape	291,052	0.4%
26	Polokwane	Limpopo	272,461	0.4%
27	Germiston	Gauteng	255,863	0.4%
28	Richards Bay	KwaZulu-Natal	252,968	0.4%
29	Vanderbijlpark	Gauteng	246,754	0.4%
30	Paarl	Western Cape	236,910	0.4%
31	Centurion	Gauteng	236,580	0.4%
32	Klerksdorp	North West	227,039	0.3%
33	Somerset West	Western Cape	225,289	0.3%
34	Mdantsane	Eastern Cape	205,504	0.3%
35	Middelburg	Mpumalanga	196,263	0.3%
36	George	Western Cape	188,580	0.3%
37	Carletonville	Gauteng	182,304	0.3%
38	Potchefstroom	North West	178,285	0.3%
39	Mthatha	Eastern Cape	164,848	0.3%
40	KwaDukuza	KwaZulu-Natal	161,177	0.2%
41	Westonaria	Gauteng	156,831	0.2%
42	Etwatwa	Gauteng	151,866	0.2%
43	Vryheid	KwaZulu-Natal	150,012	0.2%
44	Pinetown	KwaZulu-Natal	144,026	0.2%
45	Ladysmith	KwaZulu-Natal	143,446	0.2%
46	eMbalenhle	Mpumalanga	142,443	0.2%
47	Kimberley	Northern Cape	142,089	0.2%
48	Nigel	Gauteng	140,644	0.2%
49	Motherwell	Eastern Cape	140,351	0.2%
50	Mpumalanga	KwaZulu-Natal	140,121	0.2%
51	Bhisho	Eastern Cape	137,287	0.2%
52	Sasolburg	Free State	135,828	0.2%
53	Randfontein	Gauteng	133,654	0.2%
54	Worcester	Western Cape	127,597	0.2%
55	Ntuzuma	KwaZulu-Natal	125,394	0.2%
56	Virginia	Free State	122,502	0.2%
57	Brits	North West	122,497	0.2%
58	Alberton	Gauteng	121,536	0.2%
59	Queenstown	Eastern Cape	118,599	0.2%
60	Kroonstad	Free State	117,152	0.2%
61	Somaroboro	Mpumalanga	114,369	0.2%
62	Hammanskraal	North West	112,950	0.2%
63	Mabopane	Gauteng	110,972	0.2%
64	Mbombela	Mpumalanga	110,159	0.2%
65	Orkney	North West	110,052	0.2%
66	Phalaborwa	Limpopo	109,468	0.2%
67	Thohoyandou	Limpopo	107,144	0.2%
68	Tokoza	Gauteng	106,000	0.2%
69	Standerton	Mpumalanga	101,101	0.2%
70	Mokopane	Limpopo	101,090	0.2%
71	Ermelo	Mpumalanga	100,324	0.2%

Cities with 300,000 or more people link to their own page. The list keeps every city of 100,000+ and at least the 30 largest places of the country.

Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in South Africa?

Johannesburg, with about 9,418,183 inhabitants (city proper). It is larger than the capital, Pretoria (2,112,693).

What is the capital of South Africa?

Pretoria — population 2,112,693, the 4th largest city in the country.

How many cities in South Africa have over one million people?

6: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Soweto, Gqeberha.

Are these metropolitan-area populations?

No. They are city-proper figures (the administrative city) from GeoNames, based on the latest census or official estimate. Metropolitan areas, which include suburbs and satellite towns, are larger — often several times larger for the biggest cities.

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City populations are GeoNames figures (CC BY 4.0): the latest official census or estimate for the city proper — the municipality, not the wider metropolitan area — so they can differ from "metro area" numbers you see elsewhere. Country populations are live Glostats estimates from the UN World Population Prospects. Page generated 2026-10-20. More about our data.