Can I buy airtime for someone else's number?

Yes — enter any South African number instead of your own and select that number's network. It's one of the most useful features: topping up a parent or partner directly costs nothing extra and the airtime arrives on their phone in under a minute.

Is buying airtime online free?

The airtime costs its face value; the service fee depends on the channel. In the SOLmate app the purchase fee is R0 — R50 buys R50 of airtime. Some other channels add a fee or margin per purchase.

Which networks can I top up online?

All major South African networks — Vodacom, MTN, Cell C and Telkom — are selectable in the SOLmate app: enter the number, choose the operator, pick the amount or bundle.

What if the airtime doesn't arrive?

Check the Transactions section in the app first — successful purchases are recorded there. If it's missing, contact support via in-app chat or WhatsApp; provider-side issues are generally resolved within 24 hours. And double-check the number before paying: airtime delivered to a wrong number is spent airtime.

By Tinashe Sibanda in practical tips — 24 Aug 2026

How to Buy Airtime Online in South Africa: Vodacom, MTN, Cell C & Telkom (2026)

Q: How do I buy airtime online in South Africa?

Open your banking or wallet app, choose Airtime, enter the cellphone number, select the network (Vodacom, MTN, Cell C or Telkom), pick an amount or bundle, and pay from your balance. The top-up lands in under a minute. In the SOLmate app, airtime and data purchases carry no service fee.

Q: Should I buy airtime or a bundle?

For calls and data you plan to use, bundles almost always deliver more per rand: plain airtime spent at out-of-bundle rates is the most expensive way to consume calls or data. Buy plain airtime only for things bundles don't cover, and convert the rest into voice or data bundles.

Any South African number, any network, topped up in under a minute — yours or your mother's. How online airtime works, why bundles beat plain airtime almost every time, and where the purchase fee is R0.

Quick answer: buying airtime online takes under a minute: open the app, choose Airtime, enter the cellphone number — yours or anyone else's — select the network (Vodacom, MTN, Cell C or Telkom), pick an amount or bundle, and pay from your balance. Two things worth knowing before you tap: in the SOLmate app the purchase fee is R0, and for anything you actually plan to use, bundles beat plain airtime almost every time. Details below.

The One-Minute Purchase, Step by Step

1. Open the app and go to Services → Airtime.

Opening Airtime in the SOLmate app home screen

2. Enter the mobile number — your own or the person you're topping up.

Buying airtime for someone else in the SOLmate app — entering the phone number

3. Select the operator: Vodacom, MTN, Cell C or Telkom.

4. Choose the amount or bundle and tap Pay. The top-up lands on the phone in under a minute; the record sits in Transactions.

Confirming the airtime purchase in the SOLmate app — fee R0

The flow is the same across most apps; SOLmate's full voucher walkthrough (airtime, data, electricity, DStv) is on the vouchers help page. Daily voucher limits are generous — R10,000 a day for airtime and data — so the practical ceiling is your own budget, not the app's.

Airtime or Bundle? The R100 That Buys Twice as Much

Here's the single most useful thing to know about South African mobile spending: plain airtime spent at out-of-bundle rates is the most expensive way to consume calls and data. The same R100 converted into a voice or data bundle typically buys substantially more minutes or megabytes than R100 burned at standard rates — that's the whole design of bundle pricing. The practical rule: buy plain airtime only for what bundles don't cover (some subscriptions, third-party services), and turn the rest into bundles for whatever you actually do most — calls, WhatsApp, data. Your network's bundle menu shows the exact maths for your number.

Why bundles beat plain airtime in South Africa — the same money buys more minutes and data as a bundle than at out-of-bundle rates — The out-of-bundle rate is the most expensive way to own a phone

The Underrated Superpower: Topping Up Someone Else

Enter any SA number instead of your own, and the airtime lands on their phone in under a minute. This changes how families run: instead of sending money "for airtime" — which travels as a transfer, with fees and collection steps — you buy the airtime directly. Mom's phone is loaded before the phone call ends; nothing to collect, nothing to expire, nothing skimmed along the way. For family across the border it's a different story — cross-border airtime is patchy, and a proper money transfer usually serves them better — but inside South Africa, direct top-up is the cleanest gift there is.

The Fee Angle: Where R0 Actually Matters

Airtime is the most frequent purchase in most households — weekly for many, daily for some. That frequency is exactly where per-purchase fees hurt most, and it's the same compounding logic we unpacked for electricity tokens: a small fee times a hundred purchases a year is not a small number. In the SOLmate app, airtime, data and SMS purchases carry no fee at all — R50 buys R50, every time; the full list of free services is on the fee table. If you've been buying airtime with cash at a till, the app route also kills the trip: the till comes to you.

If Something Goes Wrong

Airtime didn't arrive. Check Transactions in the app — successful purchases are recorded there. If it's missing or errored, contact support via in-app chat or WhatsApp; provider-side issues generally resolve within 24 hours.
Wrong number. Airtime delivered to the wrong number is, practically speaking, spent — networks rarely claw it back. The fix is prevention: save the numbers you top up regularly after the first purchase and never retype them.
Wrong network selected. The purchase won't load onto a mismatched number — verify which network the person actually uses (numbers move between networks with porting, so an "082" prefix no longer guarantees Vodacom).

One Step Back: The Balance Behind the Button

Everything above assumes a funded balance to pay from — which is the real upgrade hiding in this article. A wallet account that receives your wages by EFT turns airtime, data and electricity into one-tap purchases with zero fees, instead of a weekly cash errand. It opens in about 3 minutes with a passport, SA ID or asylum permit — and the phone you're reading this on is the only branch you'll ever visit.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I buy airtime online?
App → Airtime → number → network → amount or bundle → pay. Under a minute, recorded in Transactions.

Can I top up someone else's number?
Yes — any SA number. Enter theirs instead of yours, pick their network, done.

Is it free?
The airtime costs face value; in the SOLmate app the purchase fee is R0. Other channels may add fees.

Airtime or bundle?
Bundles, almost always — out-of-bundle rates are the most expensive way to use a phone. Plain airtime only for what bundles don't cover.

Which networks work?
Vodacom, MTN, Cell C and Telkom — selectable in-app.

Top-up didn't arrive?
Transactions first, then in-app support — typically resolved within 24 hours. And always double-check the number: wrong-number airtime doesn't come back.

Sources: SOLmate vouchers help page, SOLmate fee table, SOLmate limits. Network names are referenced as top-up destinations only; bundle pricing is set by each network — check your operator's current rates. Details correct as of August 2026. SOLmate is not a bank. SOLmate (SOL Ecosystem (Pty) Ltd) is an authorised financial services provider (FSP No. 52248) and registered credit provider (NCRCP16037).