WhatsApp remains South Africa’s default messaging service, but Telegram has carved out a substantial place of its own among the country’s most active internet users.
Data supplied by Telegram advertising sales partner Magnetto, drawing on Statista research, puts monthly Telegram use at 48.5% of surveyed South African internet users aged 16 to 64. This places South Africa behind Nigeria, at 79%, Egypt, at 62%, and Kenya, at 52.1%, among the African markets included in the research.
The figure does not mean that almost half of all South Africans use Telegram. It reflects the online audience surveyed by Statista, which tends to be more digitally active than the population as a whole.
“These figures should be read as a reflection of highly active online users, which is typically the sample frame used in Statista’s digital platform data, rather than as a population-representative measure,” says Arthur Goldstuck, CEO of World Wide Worx and principal analyst of the annual SA Social Media Landscape Report.
“Within that context, however, the data points to Telegram having established a significant presence in the South African online market.”
Magnetto chief marketing officer Sofia Mozolkova confirmed that the South African figures were based on “a survey panel of active internet users aged 16–64, not a population-representative sample of all South Africans”.
That distinction is particularly important in South Africa, where access to devices and mobile data varies widely by income and location. Basic phones also remain in use, especially among lower-income consumers, which makes claims of near-universal smartphone penetration difficult to apply to the full population.
World Wide Worx and Ornico’s population-weighted SA Social Media Landscape Report 2026 puts Telegram’s 2025 penetration at 14.3% of South African adults, up from 12.8% a year earlier. Its highly active, weekly user base dipped from 9.0% to 8.4%, suggesting that its growth is coming from channels, groups and occasional use. Telegram remains well behind WhatsApp at 68.3% and Messenger at 55.9%, and also trails iMessage at 22.1% and Snapchat at 18.2%.
Statista’s far higher figure of 48.5% therefore reflects its sample of highly active internet users, and those with a propensity to participate in online surveys, while the local research uses population-weighted consumer data designed to provide a broader view of South African penetration.
Telegram’s position is therefore best understood as a strong presence within the connected part of the market, particularly among users who participate actively in social media, interest groups and online communities.
More than private messaging
Telegram also differs from WhatsApp in the way it combines private messaging with large public channels, community groups, bots and services that operate inside the app.
Its channels can distribute messages to large numbers of subscribers without functioning like conventional group chats. This has made the platform useful for news, specialist communities, financial information, education, gaming and technology discussions.
“Telegram works differently in Africa compared to other regions,” says Mozolkova. “People use it for privacy-focused groups, crypto discussions, and large communities – areas where WhatsApp isn’t as strong. Africa’s Telegram-based crypto communities grew by 189% since early 2023, reaching more than 3 million users. The growth is fuelled by the region’s young population, where over 56% of people are under 25 years old.”
The platform’s appeal also lies in the control it gives users over the communities and subjects they follow. A person may continue using WhatsApp for family, friends and work while turning to Telegram for public channels, specialist information or communities that would be difficult to manage on conventional messaging services.
That helps explain why Telegram does not need to displace WhatsApp to build a viable South African market. The two services often fill different roles on the same phone.
Bots take over the routine work
Mozolkova says the Telegram ecosystem includes more than 10-million active bots across a range of industries.
“There are over 10 million active bots across various industries that automate time-consuming tasks such as onboarding, FAQs, support flows, content delivery, and even purchases. A well-designed Telegram bot can provide answers up to three times faster than human agents, so businesses can scale support with smaller teams.”
For South African businesses operating with small customer-service teams, bots can handle routine enquiries and absorb sudden increases in demand during promotions or product launches.
They can also keep basic services available outside normal working hours. A customer can request information, begin an application or follow a series of instructions without waiting for an employee to become available.
Apps without another download
Telegram mini apps extend this model by allowing services to run inside the messaging platform.
“Every month, over 500 million people, which is half of Telegram’s total user base, interact with mini apps for gaming, trading crypto, booking services, transferring money,” says Mozolkova. “No downloads are required, and users don’t need to leave Telegram. They can just tap and immediately shop, book something, or complete a payment.”
That approach has clear relevance in African markets, where mobile data costs, limited storage and the proliferation of apps can discourage users from downloading another service.
Telegram’s South African audience still requires more extensive local measurement before its exact size can be established. The available data nevertheless suggests that it has moved well beyond being an obscure alternative messaging service.
It has become a sizeable specialist platform among connected South Africans, with public communities and built-in services giving users reasons to open it alongside WhatsApp.
“At Magnetto.com, we see that bots and mini apps are no longer new features,” says Mozolkova. “In many African markets, they’re becoming a great way for businesses to stay close to users and operate efficiently.”