Time in Cape Town, South Africa 🇿🇦
The current local time in Cape Town, South Africa is shown below — the city is in the Africa/Johannesburg time zone (UTC +02:00 · SAST).
Cape Town local time
Thursday, 22 October 2026 SAST
Cape Town at a glance
- Time zone
Africa/Johannesburg- UTC offset now
- +02:00 SAST
- Daylight saving
- No · UTC +02:00 all year
- Coordinates
- 33.92° S, 18.42° E
- Population
- 4,617,560
- Country
- South Africa · ISO ZA
- Dialing code
- +27
- Currency
- South African Rand (ZAR)
- Work week
- Monday to Friday
- Drives on the
- Left
Cape Town right now
Time difference
Cape Town is shown here relative to your device's time zone.
Planning a call? Compare hours side by side in the time zone converter.
Upcoming public holidays
- Day of Reconciliation Wed, Dec 16, 2026
- Christmas Day Fri, Dec 25, 2026
- Day of Goodwill Sat, Dec 26, 2026
- New Year's Day Fri, Jan 1, 2027
Sun today
Sunrise 05:57 · Sunset 19:06
Day length 13h 8m · twilight and monthly table →
Cape Town time vs. UTC
A 09:00–17:00 working day in Cape Town overlaps with 09:00–17:00 UTC from 11:00 to 17:00 Cape Town time. Open this page in your browser and the second row switches to your own time zone.
| Cape Town | 00:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 | 21:00 | 22:00 | 23:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTC | 22:00 | 23:00 | 00:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 | 21:00 |
- Office hours 09–17
- Awake, off work
- Night 22–07
Cape Town vs. major cities
How far Cape Town is from the world's main business centres right now, what time it is there when the working day starts in Cape Town, and which hours of a 09:00–17:00 day the two places share. Daylight saving changes are applied automatically.
| City | Difference | At 09:00 in Cape Town | Shared office hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York · United States | −6 h | 03:00 | 15:00–17:00 |
| Los Angeles · United States | −9 h | 00:00 | None |
| São Paulo · Brazil | −5 h | 04:00 | 14:00–17:00 |
| London · United Kingdom | −1 h | 08:00 | 10:00–17:00 |
| Paris · France | Same time | 09:00 | 09:00–17:00 |
| Dubai · United Arab Emirates | +2 h | 11:00 | 09:00–15:00 |
| Delhi · India | +3:30 h | 12:30 | 09:00–13:30 |
| Singapore · Singapore | +6 h | 15:00 | 09:00–11:00 |
| Beijing · China | +6 h | 15:00 | 09:00–11:00 |
| Tokyo · Japan | +7 h | 16:00 | 09:00–10:00 |
Shared office hours are shown in Cape Town time. Compare any set of cities hour by hour in the time zone converter, or pick a slot that suits everyone with the event planner.
Cities near Cape Town
The closest places to Cape Town among the cities we track, measured in a straight line from the city centre. Some of them keep a different clock, so check the time difference before crossing a border or booking a call.
| City | Distance | Time difference |
|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg | 1,260 km (780 mi) northeast | Same time |
| Durban | 1,270 km (790 mi) east | Same time |
| Pretoria | 1,310 km (810 mi) northeast | Same time |
| Dar es Salaam · Tanzania | 3,700 km (2,300 mi) northeast | +1 h |
| Kampala · Uganda | 4,090 km (2,540 mi) northeast | +1 h |
| Nairobi · Kenya | 4,100 km (2,550 mi) northeast | +1 h |
| Lagos · Nigeria | 4,770 km (2,960 mi) north | −1 h |
| Accra · Ghana | 4,810 km (2,990 mi) northwest | −2 h |
Distances are great-circle distances. A plus sign means the other city is ahead of Cape Town.
Clock time vs. sun time in Cape Town
Cape Town's standard offset, UTC +02:00, is based on the 30° E meridian; the city itself lies at 18.42° E, 11.6° west of it. In standard time its clocks run about 46 min ahead of the sun. Solar noon — when the sun is highest — falls between 12:31 (around 22 October) and 13:01 (around 5 February) on the clock. Mornings stay dark later and evenings stay light longer than the clock suggests.
How dates and times are written in Cape Town
- Short date
- 2026/10/22 · YYYY/MM/DD
- Long date
- 22 October 2026
- Time
- 15:30 · 24-hour clock
- Week starts on
- Sunday
Examples show 22 October 2026 at 15:30 using the Unicode CLDR conventions for en-ZA, South Africa's most common locale. Businesses and English-language sources may use other formats.
Clock changes in Cape Town
Cape Town has kept the same UTC +02:00 offset without daylight saving time since at least 1970.
No clock changes are scheduled in 2026 or 2027: Cape Town stays on UTC +02:00 all year.
Source: IANA tz database, as shipped with the Unicode ICU library.
Daylight in Cape Town through the year
The longest day in Cape Town is 22 December with 14h 25m of daylight; the shortest is 21 June with 9h 53m. Day length swings by 4 h 31 min over the year, with the long days falling in the southern summer (December–January). The earliest sunrise is at 05:29 on 1 December and the latest sunset at 20:02 on 2 January — not on the solstice itself, because solar noon drifts through the year.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Cape Town in?
Cape Town uses the Africa/Johannesburg time zone (SAST): UTC +02:00 all year round.
Does Cape Town observe daylight saving time?
No. Cape Town has not used daylight saving time since at least 1970.
When is the longest day of the year in Cape Town?
Around 22 December, with 14h 25m of daylight. The shortest day is around 21 June, with 9h 53m.
What is the dialing code for Cape Town?
To call Cape Town from abroad, dial your international access code, then South Africa's country code +27, then the local number without its leading trunk prefix.
What are normal working days in Cape Town?
The standard work week in South Africa runs Monday to Friday, with the weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Keep this in mind when scheduling calls from countries with a different weekend.
Why is sunset so late in Cape Town?
Cape Town lies at 18.42° E, 11.6° west of the 30° E meridian its UTC +02:00 offset is based on, so its clocks run about 46 min ahead of the sun. Solar noon falls between 12:31 and 13:01 through the year instead of around 12:00, and the latest sunset is at 20:02 on 2 January.
What is the nearest city to Cape Town on a different time?
Of the 189 cities we track, the closest one keeping a different clock is Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, about 3,700 km (2,300 mi) to the northeast. It is 1 h ahead of Cape Town.
How are dates and times written in Cape Town?
Following the en-ZA conventions in the Unicode CLDR, a short date is written YYYY/MM/DD (2026/10/22) and times usually use the 24-hour clock (15:30). Calendars start the week on Sunday.
Explore more for Cape Town
Everything else we track for Cape Town: daylight, weather, the country overview, and the exact time-zone references.