Time zone · Africa

SAST

South Africa Standard Time

South Africa Standard Time (SAST) is the reliable, year-round UTC+02:00 pulse of southern Africa — with no daylight saving shifts, scheduling between Johannesburg, Maseru, and Mbabane stays predictable and consistent. Whether you're working a late‑night call from Cape Town or syncing projects across Lesotho and Eswatini, SAST keeps the clock steady and the time‑zones aligned.

UTC+02:00 standard3 IANA zones3 cities
Current time in SAST☾ Night
05:29:42

Sunday, May 31, 2026

☾ NIGHT 07:4212:4417:45
Standard
SAST · +2
IANA zones
3

Current offset

UTC+02:00

Standard · SAST

Daylight saving

Not observed

Year-round standard time

IANA zones

3

None observe daylight saving

DST offset

—

No summer variant

About SAST

A fixed, year-round offset.

South Africa Standard Time (SAST) is the reliable, year-round UTC+02:00 pulse of southern Africa — with no daylight saving shifts, scheduling between Johannesburg, Maseru, and Mbabane stays predictable and consistent. Whether you're working a late‑night call from Cape Town or syncing projects across Lesotho and Eswatini, SAST keeps the clock steady and the time‑zones aligned.

IANA zones · the technical identifiers

The 3 zones that resolve to SAST.

For software, always store the IANA identifier — never the abbreviation alone. The database keeps these zones distinct because their rules can, and historically did, diverge.

IANA zonePrimary cityDST
Africa/JohannesburgJohannesburg— None
Africa/MaseruMaseru— None
Africa/MbabaneMbabane— None

Cities currently on SAST

The same hour, city by city.

3 cities · all UTC+02:00

Cape Town
05:29
05:29:42 · SAST
 SAST year-round
Maseru
05:29
05:29:42 · SAST
 SAST year-round
Mbabane
05:29
05:29:42 · SAST
 SAST year-round

Where SAST is used

3 countries.

South Africa
SAST · UTC+02:00
Lesotho
SAST · UTC+02:00
Eswatini
SAST · UTC+02:00

Same offset · UTC+02:00

Other zones at UTC+02:00 right now.

These named zones share SAST's offset today. When daylight saving rules differ, they drift apart for part of the year.

CATUTC+2
--:--
Central Africa Time
Africa— No DST
MalawiBurundiBotswana +8
CESTUTC+2
--:--
Central European Summer Time
Europe▲ Observes DST
SpainSvalbard and Jan MayenNetherlands +28
EETUTC+2
--:--
Eastern European Standard Time
Africa▲ Observes DST
LibyaRussia
TSTUTC+2
--:--
Troll Summer Time
Antarctic▲ Observes DST
Antarctica

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about SAST, daylight saving, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].

Does South Africa observe daylight saving time?
No. South Africa ended daylight saving time in 1944. SAST has remained on UTC+02:00 year-round.
Which countries officially use SAST?
South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini all observe SAST as their standard time.
Is Johannesburg on the same time as Cape Town?
Yes. All of South Africa uses SAST (UTC+02:00), including Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban.
What is South Africa's time zone called?
It's officially called South Africa Standard Time (SAST), with the abbreviation SAST.
Is Lesotho on the same time as Johannesburg?
Yes. Lesotho and South Africa both observe SAST (UTC+02:00).
Is Swaziland time different from South Africa?
No. Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) uses the same time as South Africa Standard Time (UTC+02:00).
Can I use the iPhone's 'Johannesburg' zone for all of Southern Africa?
Yes. Choosing Africa/Johannesburg in the iPhone covers the correct time for South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini.

Free · Developer API

Time, as JSON.

Every IANA time zone with live offsets, DST status, and the countries and cities that use them — clean, dependable JSON. Sign up free and get an API key in seconds.

GET /v1/timezones Live

countries, cities, convert, DST transitions coming next.

Get your free API key →
// France's time zones, right now
GET /v1/timezones?country=fr
{
"data": [
{
"iana": "Europe/Paris",
"display_name": "Paris",
"current": {
"utc_offset": "+02:00",
"abbreviation": "CEST",
"is_dst": true
}
}
]
}