Prayer Times in South Africa

How Sahaar calculates prayer times in South Africa

South Africa's preset is the only one in this set that combines a method with an added minute margin. Sahaar starts from the Karachi profile, Fajr and Isha both at 18° with one minute on Dhuhr, then applies a three-minute allowance to Maghrib. That pairing follows the practice of the Jamiatul Ulama in KwaZulu-Natal, whose timetables add a margin after sunset before iftar and the Maghrib prayer, and it is carried into every South African city page here rather than left as a footnote.

Asr defaults to the Hanafi measure (2× shadow), the column most congregations in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town pray by. The standard measure (1× shadow) is printed beside it on every page for those who follow it.

No South African city is far enough from the equator to need a high-latitude rule; Cape Town at 34° south reaches both twilight angles even at midsummer, so Fajr and Isha are always the true astronomical values.

Calculated by Sahaar — not an official timetable. The Jamiatul Ulama and the local Muslim judicial councils publish their own calendars, and where yours does, it takes precedence over this page.

Calculated — not an official timetable. Why prayer times differ between apps and timetables.

Cities

5 cities so far, chosen by the size of their Muslim communities rather than by population. On 1 October Fajr comes first in Durban (04:14) and last in Cape Town (04:59), 45 minutes apart; Pretoria is the northernmost at 25.7° south and Cape Town the southernmost at 33.9° south, so summer nights differ most between them.

Prayer times on Thu 1 October 2026, local time. Open a city for the full month, both Asr measures, the year curve and the qibla.
City	Fajr	Sunrise	Dhuhr	Asr · Hanafi (2×)	Maghrib	Isha
Cape Town	04:59	06:23	12:37	17:03	18:52	20:14
Durban	04:14	05:35	11:47	16:13	18:00	19:18
Johannesburg	04:30	05:48	11:59	16:24	18:11	19:25
Pietermaritzburg	04:17	05:37	11:49	16:15	18:03	19:20
Pretoria	04:30	05:47	11:58	16:23	18:10	19:24

Cities

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