IANA tz database · zone identifier

Africa/Maseru

The IANA tz database identifier for South Africa Standard Time in Lesotho. Store this string — not the abbreviation, not the offset — and your timestamps stay correct forever.

UTC+02:00Abbreviation SASTNo DST — never observed
Time in Africa/Maseru☾ Night
00:59:58
Thursday, July 16, 2026
Offset
UTC+02:00
Abbreviation
SAST
DST
No DST

Current offset

UTC+02:00

same year-round

Abbreviation

SAST

used year-round

DST behaviour

Never

has never observed daylight saving

Country

🇱🇸 Lesotho

ISO 3166: LS · view country page →

Using this identifier

The string to put in your code.

Africa/Maseru is the identifier to use in code and config for this region. Every modern language, database, and OS resolves it through the same tz database, so the examples here behave identically everywhere.

Avoid storing SAST or +02:00 — abbreviations are ambiguous and fixed offsets can't follow rule changes.

// format a date in this zone
new Intl.DateTimeFormat('en-US', {
timeZone: 'Africa/Maseru',
dateStyle: 'full', timeStyle: 'long'
}).format(new Date());

Offset & DST behaviour

One offset,
82 years.

Africa/Maseru has kept UTC+02:00 year-round since 19 March 1944 — no daylight saving and no offset changes on record since. It is among the most stable identifiers in the database.

Every offset this zone has kept

+01:50:00UTC+02:00 · UNCHANGED 19 March 1944 NOW

Keeping this offset since

19 March 1944

Next transition

None scheduled

no DST rules exist for this zone

Safe to assume

Local = UTC + 2h, always

…but store the identifier anyway

Technical record

The database entry, in full.

source: IANA tz database

IdentifierAfrica/Maseru
ISO country codeLS🇱🇸 Lesotho
Reference coordinates29.47°S, 27.50°Etz database reference point
Standard offsetUTC+02:00abbreviation SAST
Daylight offset—daylight saving has never been observed

Where it applies

All of Lesotho, one clock.

Looking for travel-friendly info? See Maseru or South Africa Standard Time.

🇱🇸
Lesotho

2M people, one time zone. The whole country resolves to Africa/Maseru.

Country page →
🇱🇸 Maseru
00:59
00:59:58 · SAST
pop. 344KSAST

Related identifiers

Nearby in the database.

Same zone group · South Africa Standard Time

other identifiers keeping SAST

Same offset · UTC+02:00

other zones keeping this offset right now

Frequently asked questions

Answers specific to this identifier — generated from the database record. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].

What UTC offset is Africa/Maseru?
Africa/Maseru is UTC+02:00, year-round. The offset never changes because the zone does not observe daylight saving time.
Does Africa/Maseru observe daylight saving time?
No. Africa/Maseru has never observed DST — it has kept UTC+02:00 continuously since 19 March 1944.
Which country uses Africa/Maseru?
Lesotho. The identifier covers the whole country.
Is Africa/Maseru the same as SAST?
Africa/Maseru is one of the IANA zones that keeps South Africa Standard Time (SAST). Use Africa/Maseru in software — SAST is a human-friendly label, not a valid identifier.

Free · Developer API

This zone, as JSON.

Everything on this page — offset, abbreviation, DST rules, coordinates — from one endpoint, always current with the latest tzdb release.

GET /v1/timezones Live

countries, cities, convert, DST transitions coming next.

Get your free API key →
// this identifier, resolved live
GET /v1/timezones?iana=Africa/Maseru
{
"iana": "Africa/Maseru",
"utc_offset": "+02:00",
"abbreviation": "SAST",
"observes_dst": false,
"country": "LS"
}