🌆 Largest Cities in South Africa
Cities of South Africa with more than 15,000 inhabitants, ranked by population (GeoNames).
Johannesburg26%
Cape Town13%
Durban9.1%
Pretoria5.8%
Soweto4.6%
Gqeberha2.9%
Soshanguve2.4%
Pietermaritzburg2.3%
Evaton2%
Benoni
Bloemfontein
Thembisa
East London
Vereeniging
Boksburg
Welkom
Newcastle
Krugersdorp
Rustenburg
Emalahleni
Diepsloot
Randburg
Roodepoort
Botshabelo
Brakpan
Kariega
Polokwane
Germiston
Richards Bay
Vanderbijlpark
Athlone
10 others4.4%
1
JohannesburgGauteng
9,418,183
2
Cape TownWestern Cape
4,772,846
3
DurbanKwaZulu-Natal
3,338,026
4
PretoriaGauteng
2,112,693
5
SowetoGauteng
1,695,047
6
GqeberhaEastern Cape
1,050,078
7
SoshanguveGauteng
872,309
8
PietermaritzburgKwaZulu-Natal
839,327
9
EvatonGauteng
725,468
10
BenoniGauteng
605,344
11
BloemfonteinFree State
556,637
12
ThembisaGauteng
511,655
13
East LondonEastern Cape
478,676
14
VereenigingGauteng
474,681
15
BoksburgGauteng
445,168
16
WelkomFree State
431,944
17
NewcastleKwaZulu-Natal
404,838
18
KrugersdorpGauteng
378,821
19
RustenburgNorth West
373,695
20
EmalahleniMpumalanga
373,403
21
DiepslootGauteng
350,000
22
RandburgGauteng
337,053
23
RoodepoortGauteng
326,416
24
BotshabeloFree State
309,714
25
BrakpanGauteng
305,692
26
KariegaEastern Cape
291,052
27
PolokwaneLimpopo
272,461
28
GermistonGauteng
255,863
29
Richards BayKwaZulu-Natal
252,968
30
VanderbijlparkGauteng
246,754
31
AthloneWestern Cape
237,414
32
PaarlWestern Cape
236,910
33
CenturionGauteng
236,580
34
KlerksdorpNorth West
227,039
35
Somerset WestWestern Cape
225,289
36
MdantsaneEastern Cape
205,504
37
MiddelburgMpumalanga
196,263
38
GeorgeWestern Cape
188,580
39
SpringsGauteng
186,394
40
Ivory ParkGauteng
184,383
41
CarletonvilleGauteng
182,304
42
AlexandraGauteng
179,624
43
PotchefstroomNorth West
178,285
44
MthathaEastern Cape
164,848
45
KwaDukuzaKwaZulu-Natal
161,177
46
WestonariaGauteng
156,831
47
EtwatwaGauteng
151,866
48
VryheidKwaZulu-Natal
150,012
49
PinetownKwaZulu-Natal
144,026
50
LadysmithKwaZulu-Natal
143,446
Highlights
Within South Africa, Johannesburg ranks first in 2026 with 9,418,183, followed by Cape Town (4,772,846) and Durban (3,338,026).
Johannesburg is 2 times higher than Cape Town, the runner-up.
Across 50 entries, values run from 9,418,183 (Johannesburg) to 143,446 (Ladysmith), with a median of 298,372.
Source: GeoNames, cities with more than 15,000 inhabitants, 2026. Unit: people.
Source: GeoNames, cities with more than 15,000 inhabitants · CC BY 4.0 (GeoNames) · fetched Oct 14, 2026 — GeoNames aggregates census and estimate figures, so the reference year varies by city, and a few figures cover the metropolitan area rather than the city proper.