If you are searching for an IPTV channel list South Africa households can actually rely on, you mostly want answers to three questions: are the local channels there, is SuperSport there, and does the guide show the right times? This page answers all three. We spent two weeks going through every group in our line-up on a 50 Mbps Vumatel line in Randburg and a 100 Mbps Octotel line in Bellville, noting quality, EPG coverage and catch-up availability as we went.
One honest note before we start: channel names below describe the channels in our line-up at the time of writing. Line-ups change — channels get renamed, merged or dropped by their owners — and we have no partnership with SABC, MultiChoice, SuperSport or any broadcaster. For the live, current list, use the searchable channel guide on our homepage.
How our South African IPTV channel list is organised
When you load your Xtream Codes login into an app (our interactive setup tabs walk you through it), the playlist arrives already split into groups. South African groups sit at the top so you are not scrolling past 400 Arabic or Latin American channels to find SABC 1. In our tests, the order looks roughly like this:
- ZA | Local – SABC, e.tv and local news.
- ZA | SuperSport – every SuperSport feed, then other sport.
- ZA | Entertainment – M-Net, Mzansi Magic, 1Magic, kykNET, Moja Love, Honey and similar.
- ZA | Kids, ZA | Movies, ZA | Documentaries.
- International – UK, US, India, Portugal, Nigeria, Kenya and more.
- Music, then 24/7 and event channels.
Favourites and hiding groups
The single biggest quality-of-life fix is building a favourites list. In TiviMate, long-press a channel and choose “Add to favourites”; in IPTV Smarters, tap the heart icon. We also recommend hiding groups you will never watch — it makes the EPG grid load noticeably faster on budget Android boxes. On a 2 GB RAM box we measured the full guide taking around 9 seconds to render with every group enabled, versus roughly 3 seconds with only the ZA and UK groups visible.
Quality tiers per category
Not every channel exists in every quality. Any honest IPTV channel list South Africa providers publish should show this, so here is the realistic picture of what we found across the line-up:
| Category | SD | HD (720p) | FHD (1080p) | 4K (2160p) | Typical bitrate (FHD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local free-to-air (SABC, e.tv) | Yes | Yes | Some | No | 4–6 Mbps |
| SuperSport | Backup | Yes | Yes | Selected events | 7–9 Mbps |
| Mzansi entertainment | Backup | Yes | Most | No | 5–7 Mbps |
| Movies (live channels) | No | Yes | Yes | Some | 6–8 Mbps |
| VOD movies & series | No | Yes | Yes | Large 4K section | 8–12 Mbps |
| International news | Yes | Yes | Most | No | 4–6 Mbps |
A 4K stream in our tests peaked at around 22–25 Mbps, so a 25 Mbps fibre line is the bare minimum for 4K with nobody else online. Our bandwidth estimator gives a per-ISP recommendation, and our fibre ISP comparison goes deeper.
Local South African channels: SABC, e.tv & 24-hour news
For many families the local channels matter most — the soapies, Generations-style dramas, the 19:00 news bulletins and live national events. These are all in the ZA | Local group.
| Channel | Main language(s) | Best quality | EPG | Catch-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SABC 1 | isiZulu, isiXhosa, English | HD | Yes | Yes |
| SABC 2 | Afrikaans, Sesotho, English | HD | Yes | Yes |
| SABC 3 | English | HD | Yes | Yes |
| e.tv | English, multilingual | HD | Yes | Yes |
| SABC News | English, multilingual | HD | Yes | Selected |
| eNCA | English | HD | Yes | Selected |
| Newzroom Afrika | English | HD | Yes | Selected |
Load shedding has been far less frequent since 2024, but municipal outages still happen. If the power cuts during the 19:00 news, catch-up on these channels lets you rewind once the lights come back. Pair that with a mini-UPS on your ONT and router — see our load shedding and UPS guide.
SuperSport & sport channels in our line-up
Sport is the reason most people look for IPTV South Africa options in the first place. The SuperSport group in our line-up covers the feeds you would expect:
| Channel | What it mostly shows | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| SuperSport Grandstand | Springboks, big rugby & cricket events | FHD, 4K on selected events |
| SuperSport Premier League | English Premier League | FHD, 4K on selected matches |
| SuperSport Rugby | URC (Bulls, Stormers, Sharks, Lions), Currie Cup | FHD |
| SuperSport PSL | Betway Premiership: Chiefs, Pirates, Sundowns | FHD |
| SuperSport Cricket | Proteas, international & domestic cricket | FHD |
| SuperSport Football / LaLiga | Champions League, Spanish football | FHD |
| SuperSport Variety / Action | Overflow fixtures, combat sports, tennis | HD/FHD |
| SuperSport Motorsport | F1 and other motorsport | FHD |
Beyond SuperSport, the sport section also carries UK sport channels, beIN-type international sport and dedicated event channels that appear only on match days. The full breakdown of fixtures, kick-off times and latency is in our rugby, PSL and Premier League guide.
Most SuperSport channels have an HD backup next to the FHD feed. If the FHD stream stutters during a Soweto derby when the whole street is streaming, switch to the backup — in our tests it needed roughly 40% less bandwidth with only a small visible drop in sharpness.
Mzansi entertainment, kids & movie channels
Entertainment and Mzansi
The ZA | Entertainment group holds the DStv-style general entertainment channels in our line-up: M-Net, Mzansi Magic, Mzansi Wethu, 1Magic, Moja Love, Honey, plus Afrikaans favourites kykNET, kykNET & kie and VIA. Reality shows, telenovelas and local dramas all live here, mostly in FHD.
Kids
The kids group includes channels such as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney Junior, CBeebies and Da Vinci. Parents: most apps let you lock groups with a PIN — TiviMate calls it “Parental control”, IPTV Smarters has a parental lock in settings. Lock the adult and late-night movie groups before handing the remote over.
Movies
Live movie channels (M-Net movie channels, international film channels) are in FHD, with a few 4K feeds. For on-demand viewing, the VOD library is usually the better choice — more on that below.
Every plan includes the full channel list, VOD, EPG and catch-up. Payment by Visa or Mastercard only, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Compare details on the pricing section.
International packs: UK, US, Indian, Portuguese, African & music
South Africa is a country of many communities, and a decent list of South African IPTV channels has to reflect that. These are the international groups in our line-up:
| Pack | Example channels | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| International news | BBC News, CNN, Sky News, Al Jazeera English | HD/FHD, full EPG |
| UK | BBC One, ITV, Channel 4, Sky channels | UK is 1–2 hours behind SAST |
| US | Major networks, entertainment & sport | Times shown in SAST once EPG is set |
| Indian | Zee, Star, Colors, Sony channels | Hindi, Tamil, Telugu sub-groups |
| Portuguese | RTP Internacional and Portuguese channels | Popular with the Portuguese community |
| Afrikaans | kykNET family, VIA, Afrikaans music | Also listed under ZA | Entertainment |
| Nigeria | Africa Magic, Channels TV, Arise News | Nollywood-heavy |
| Kenya | Citizen TV, NTV, KTN | News and local drama |
| Music | Trace, MTV Base, Channel O-style channels | Amapiano, gospel, hip-hop |
A practical detail many people miss: UK channels follow UK time. In British Summer Time, London is 1 hour behind Johannesburg; in winter (GMT), it is 2 hours behind. A correctly configured EPG handles that for you — which brings us to the most common support question we get.
EPG explained: XMLTV, SAST and fixing “EPG 2 hours off”
The EPG (electronic programme guide) is the TV-guide grid showing what is on now and next. Behind it is an XMLTV file: a large XML document listing every programme with a start and end time. Those times usually carry a UTC offset, for example 20261112170000 +0000 for a 19:00 SAST bulletin.
How to load the EPG URL
With Xtream Codes login, most apps fetch the EPG automatically. If yours does not, add it manually:
http://your-server-url:port/xmltv.php?username=YOURUSER&password=YOURPASS- Open your app's playlist or EPG settings.
- Add the XMLTV URL above (your real server, username and password are in your activation message).
- Set the update interval to every 12 or 24 hours.
- Force a refresh once, then wait 1–3 minutes for the guide to fill.
Why the EPG shows the wrong time
South Africa Standard Time is UTC+2 all year, with no daylight saving. If your device is set to UTC (common on cheap Android boxes and freshly reset Fire TV sticks), the app shows programmes 2 hours off. In our support logs, roughly 8 out of 10 “wrong EPG” tickets come down to the device clock, not the guide itself.
Always set the device time zone to Africa/Johannesburg (or “GMT+02:00 Harare, Pretoria”) and enable automatic network time first. Only use the app's EPG time shift if the guide is still off after that. Stacking a manual +2 shift on top of a correct time zone is how people end up 4 hours out.
App-by-app fix
| App | Where to change it | Typical value in SA |
|---|---|---|
| TiviMate | Settings → Playlists → your playlist → EPG time shift | 0 (or +2 / -2 if still off) |
| IPTV Smarters | Settings → EPG / Time shift (wording varies by version) | 0, then adjust by ±2 |
| OTT Navigator | Settings → Provider → EPG → Time shift | 0, then adjust by ±2 |
| Kodi (PVR IPTV Simple Client) | Add-on settings → EPG → EPG time shift (hours) | 0, then adjust by ±2 |
If the guide is empty rather than shifted, the channel's EPG ID probably does not match the XMLTV file. Clear the app cache, refresh the EPG, and if a specific channel still shows “No information”, send us the channel name on WhatsApp and we will check its mapping. Full app walkthroughs are in our Xtream Codes setup guide for TiviMate and Smarters.
Catch-up, VOD library, audio tracks & subtitles
Catch-up (up to 7 days)
Selected channels in our line-up — including the main SABC channels, e.tv, key Mzansi entertainment channels and several SuperSport feeds — keep up to 7 days of archive. In TiviMate and OTT Navigator they show a small clock or rewind icon; scroll back in the EPG grid and press OK on a past programme to play it. Catch-up is not available on every channel, often for rights or storage reasons, so check the icon before relying on it.
VOD movies and series
The VOD library holds thousands of movies and complete series, organised by genre, year and language, and it is updated weekly. A sizeable part of the new releases are in 4K HDR — you can see a sample in the Cinema 4K showcase on our homepage. In our tests, VOD started in under 2 seconds on fibre and, because it is buffered, it is far more forgiving than live TV on a busy LTE or 5G connection.
Language, audio tracks and subtitles
Many sport and movie streams carry more than one audio track. On selected SuperSport rugby and football broadcasts you may find alternative commentary, and VOD titles often include several audio languages. Local channels broadcast in their native mix — isiZulu, isiXhosa, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English — and kykNET content is in Afrikaans. To switch, press the audio or “Tracks” button in the player (TiviMate: OK → audio icon; Smarters: the speech-bubble icon). Subtitles are mostly available on VOD, with English almost always present; live channel subtitles depend on the source broadcast.
Not every live channel has every language, and not every VOD title has subtitles in every language. If a particular Afrikaans or isiZulu title matters to you, ask us before you subscribe — and remember the 30-day money-back guarantee covers you if the line-up does not match your needs.
Choosing between providers? Our best IPTV in South Africa buying guide explains how to judge any IPTV channel list South Africa sellers advertise beyond the headline numbers, and our IPTV vs DStv cost comparison puts the price in context.
IPTV channel list South Africa: FAQ
How many channels are in the IPTV channel list for South Africa?
Our line-up carries several thousand live channels across local, sport, entertainment, kids, movies, news and international groups, plus a large movie and series VOD library. Exact numbers change as channels are added or removed, so use the searchable channel guide on our homepage for the current list.
Are SABC 1, SABC 2, SABC 3 and e.tv included?
Yes. The South African free-to-air channels SABC 1, SABC 2, SABC 3, e.tv and SABC News are in our line-up in HD, alongside 24-hour news from eNCA and Newzroom Afrika.
Which SuperSport channels are in the line-up?
The SuperSport group in our line-up includes Grandstand, Premier League, Rugby, PSL, Cricket, Football, LaLiga, Variety, Action and Motorsport feeds, most in FHD with selected events in 4K. Line-ups can change, so check the channel guide before a big match.
Why is my IPTV EPG 2 hours off in South Africa?
Most XMLTV guides are published in UTC. If your app or device assumes UTC instead of SAST (UTC+2), every programme appears 2 hours early or late. Set the device time zone to Johannesburg and leave the EPG time shift at 0, or apply a +2 or -2 hour shift in TiviMate, IPTV Smarters, OTT Navigator or Kodi.
Is there catch-up on South African IPTV channels?
Yes. Selected channels in our line-up offer up to 7 days of catch-up, marked with a rewind or archive icon in apps that support it, such as TiviMate, OTT Navigator and IPTV Smarters.
Can I test the channel list without a free trial?
No, there is no free trial. Instead every plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test the full channel list, EPG and VOD on your own line and get refunded if it does not suit you.
Get the full South African channel list today
SABC, e.tv, SuperSport, Mzansi Magic, kykNET, international packs, 7-day catch-up and a 4K VOD library — activated in 5–15 minutes. Pay by Visa or Mastercard, 30-day money-back guarantee.
New to us? Start on the IPTV South Africa subscription homepage or read about our network and peering.