Current time in Johannesburg

South African Standard Time, fixed at UTC+2

Johannesburg uses South African Standard Time (SAST), two hours ahead of UTC, all year. The whole of South Africa keeps it, as do Lesotho and Eswatini, and the neighbouring countries to the north use the same offset under the name Central Africa Time. South Africa tried daylight saving only briefly, in the summers of 1942 to 1944, and the clocks have not moved since.

Europe’s time zone, in the other hemisphere

Johannesburg lies almost due south of central Europe, so a flight of eleven hours from Frankfurt or Amsterdam crosses the equator with hardly any change on the clock. From late March to late October South Africa has exactly the same time as Berlin, Paris and Madrid; in the northern winter it is one hour ahead of them. London is one hour behind in summer and two in winter, and New York six or seven hours behind.

One clock from Durban to Cape Town

South African time is based on the 30° east meridian, which runs close to Durban on the east coast. Johannesburg is near enough to it that clock and sun agree well. Cape Town, 12 degrees further west, shares the same clock, so its sun runs about three-quarters of an hour late: in December it sets at around 20:00, an hour after sunset in Durban. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange trades from 09:00 to 17:00.

Johannesburg: time zone at a glance

Time zone

Africa/Johannesburg

UTC offset

UTC+2, all year

Clock changes

None scheduled

Dates reflect the rules in force when this page was last updated. Governments can change them at short notice.

Plan a meeting in Johannesburg

Use the actual meeting date. Seasonal clock changes can alter the time difference.

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