Streaming platforms in South Africa

DStv Stream is MultiChoice’s standalone streaming service for Africa, offering more than 100 live TV channels, on-demand movies and series, and a built-in Showmax section. SuperSport carries the English Premier League, La Liga, the Champions League and every 2026 World Cup match. Plans run from Access to Premium, now owned by Canal+.

SuperSport is the leading African sports network, on air since 1995 and one of the strongest sports brands in sub-Saharan Africa. Across sub-Saharan Africa it distributes more than 20 dedicated linear channels through the DStv satellite platform and the DStv Stream over-the-top service. Owned by MultiChoice, which Canal+ took control of in September 2025, its key rights include the English Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, South African rugby, cricket and the local PSL football league. Roughly 3.5 million households reach SuperSport through DStv.

SABC+ is the free streaming home of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s only public broadcaster. It carries live SABC 1, SABC 2, S3, SABC Sport and SABC News, plus catch-up and on-demand series like Skeem Saam and 7de Laan. Radio stations such as Metro FM and 5FM and podcasts round it out. Watching costs nothing once you register with an email address or phone number, and ads keep it running. Stream on the web, iPhone, iPad and Android, cast with Chromecast, or use Apple TV, Google TV, Android TV and LG or Hisense TVs. News, radio and podcasts travel with you, while the entertainment and sports channels are tied to South Africa. With a VPN server in South Africa, SABC 1, SABC 2, S3 and SABC Sport open up wherever you are.

eVOD is the South African streaming service from e.tv and eMedia, the broadcaster behind e.tv, eExtra and Openview. It offers a free, ad-supported tier alongside an ad-free Monthly plan, with over 9,000 hours of mostly local content: e.tv soapies such as “Scandal!,” “House of Zwide” and “Isitha: The Enemy,” eVOD Originals, movies, kids shows on eToonz, plus live and catch-up streaming of the e.tv and eExtra channels. It streams in HD, supports offline downloads, and is available only with a South African connection.

SuperSport Schools is a free streaming service for South African school and youth sports, run by SuperSport Schools (Pty) Limited in Cape Town, a subsidiary of SuperSport International within the MultiChoice group. Rugby, field hockey, netball, soccer, water polo, basketball and cricket stream live and on demand. AI-powered Pixellot cameras film games at the schools without a crew, which is why the archive is so large. Watching is free once you sign up, with ads before playback. You can follow favorite schools and teams and cut your own clips, all in an English-language interface. It runs on the web, iPhone, iPad, Android and Macs with Apple silicon. In South Africa, its channel also airs on DStv and SABC+. Every game of your kid’s team or your alma mater is a few taps away, and a VPN server in South Africa gives you a South African connection wherever you live.

SportyTV is a free sports channel and app from Sporty Group. A round-the-clock live feed sits alongside news, scores, highlights and the in-house studio shows SportyLive and SportyShow. The South African lineup features Serie A, the Saudi Pro League, Copa Libertadores, the Argentine league, EuroLeague basketball and MMA, plus Spain’s Copa del Rey and Supercopa. It’s all free and ad-free, in English. Watch on the web, iPhone, iPad and Android, or through the TV apps for Android TV, Samsung, LG and Hisense, linking your TV with a code. Live streaming is meant for Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya, while news and scores show up anywhere. Abroad, a VPN server in South Africa puts the live channel back on your screen.

Viu is a streaming service from Hong Kong’s PCCW group, active in 25 markets across Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and Africa. South Africa gets its own version, Viu South Africa, with a catalog of its own. Expect homegrown favorites like Skeem Saam, Uzalo, Generations and 7de Laan, K-dramas such as Taxi Driver and Descendants of the Sun, Turkish telenovelas, Hollywood movies and short vertical micro-dramas. The free tier is ad-supported, needs no sign-up and streams in up to 720p. Premium drops the ads and adds Full HD, downloads of selected titles and Viu Originals, with monthly or yearly plans plus daily passes paid with South African mobile credit. You sign up for Premium with a phone number, email, Google, Facebook or Apple ID. Shows are available dubbed into isiZulu and Afrikaans, and most titles carry English subtitles. Watch on the web, on iPhone, iPad, Android, Huawei devices or smart TVs. Outside Viu’s markets, the website shows only an unavailable notice, and the US App Store lacks the app. A South African VPN server opens Viu South Africa with Skeem Saam, Uzalo and Generations.

DStv BoxOffice is the movie rental store of South Africa’s DStv, run by MultiChoice, now controlled by the CANAL+ group. Rent new and popular films and watch each one for 48 hours. No series, no live channels, and the online selection beats the decoder’s. Anyone with a DStv login can rent online, while a DStv subscription is only needed to rent on a DStv Explora or Explora Ultra decoder. Online rentals live on the DStv Stream website: sign in, pick a film, pay and press play. Outside South Africa, DStv Stream reports that content isn’t available in your location. With a VPN server in South Africa, your own DStv account keeps renting movies on vacation or after a move abroad.

MTN One TV is the pan-African streaming service from mobile operator MTN, run in South Africa by MTN South Africa. It serves up thousands of hours of homegrown stories, comedy, Nollywood movies, telenovelas, documentaries, true crime and kids’ shows, from the stand-up special Prins Live & Recorded 2 to Skyf and Supa Strikas. Most titles are in English or Afrikaans. The service is free with ads, and you sign in with an MTN number and a one-time SMS code. It runs in the browser on phones, tablets and laptops. Abroad, all you need is your MTN SIM in your phone for the SMS code and a VPN with a server in South Africa, and the South African catalog is yours from anywhere.

AfriForumTV is a free South African streaming service in Afrikaans. It’s run by AfriForum, a South African civil rights organization based in Centurion and part of the Solidariteit movement, through its communications department. The lineup spans movies, scripted and reality series, AfriForum news and current affairs, school sports, lifestyle and podcasts. Originals include Doodloopspore, about unsolved mysteries across southern Africa, and the hiking travel series Nomades, while kids get their own AfriKinders section with classics like Liewe Heksie. Watching is free once you sign up with your first and last name, year of birth, email, a mobile number with an international dialing code and a password. It’s open to members and nonmembers alike, and nothing shows up without an account. There are live streams too, and you can watch on the web, on iPhone, iPad and Android, or on Android TV and smart TVs with Google Play. Everything is in Afrikaans. The website and sign-up form open outside South Africa, but the service can restrict some titles by region. A VPN with a South African server changes your virtual location, so you can watch AfriForumTV anywhere, just like at home.

cAfrica is a free, ad-supported South African streaming service run by Commec, based in Randburg, Johannesburg. It offers South African films such as Asinamali and Blessers, Nollywood titles, web series like 3 Broke Friends and Azania Rises, and live FAST channels with a program guide. There are also 12 live radio stations including Jacaranda FM, Kaya FM and Metro FM, plus music streams and South African podcasts. Watching is free, with ads that may run before, during or after playback, while radio streams currently carry none. An optional paid add-on, cAfrica Plus, unlocks more premium content, and the service shows the price before you buy. No South African phone number or ID is required. Watch on the web, iPhone and iPad, Apple TV, Android, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV, or on the company’s cAfrica TV Stick. The site is in English and French. The website loads in full outside South Africa, although per the terms some titles may vary by country. A VPN with a South African server gives you a South African IP address, so South African services open as they do at home.

Freevision Play is the free internet TV service from Sentech, South Africa’s state-owned signal distributor. Its focus is local: community stations Soweto TV, Cape Town TV and 1KZN TV, the exclusive Phuthuloha TV in Sesotho, Sepedi and Setswana, the kids’ channel Afrokiddos and movie channels packed with Nollywood. Community radio, catch-up and on-demand shows complete the package. There’s no subscription and no decoder, and advertising pays the bills. TV channels need a quick login with email or a Google account. Watch on the web, iPhone, iPad, Android and Android TV, or send the picture to a bigger screen with AirPlay or Chromecast. Officially, the service is for South Africa only. With a VPN server in South Africa, your local community station comes along wherever you live, from Soweto TV to Cape Town TV.

FaithNOW is a subscription Christian streaming service from Faith Broadcasting Network (FBN), a South African broadcaster with its studio in East London. It carries the live channels Faith TV Africa, Faith TV USA and Faith TV UK, partner channels such as Victory Channel and The Word Network, the Russian Good News Channel, the Arabic Al Hayat Television and the kids’ channel Faith Kidz TV. Add Link FM radio, podcasts and more than 7,000 hours of on-demand programming, mostly sermons and teaching shows, including Faith TODAY. Plans come monthly or yearly, start with a 14-day free trial and renew until you cancel. Sign-up needs no South African number or ID. Pay by card on the website or in the app through the App Store and Google Play. Watch on the web, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Android, Android TV and Roku, or cast with Chromecast and AirPlay. Content is mostly in English. The FaithNOW website and catalog open outside South Africa with no region message. A VPN with a South African server gives you a South African IP address so South African sites and services open as they do at home, and your connection stays encrypted on the go.

Jou Afrikaans, or JA for short, is a South African streaming service built entirely around Afrikaans, launched on June 1, 2021. It brings together movies, series and music videos, from Afrikaans classics of the 1960s and 1970s to recent releases. As of September 2026, the catalog holds 252 movies, 66 series and 179 music videos, featuring artists like Steve Hofmeyr. Younger viewers get JA Kids, a dedicated section with a kids mode you can only leave with a PIN. Jou Afrikaans runs on subscriptions, monthly or yearly, plus a cheaper JA Kids plan with children’s content only. There’s also a limited lifetime membership offer, and you can give a subscription as a gift. You need to sign in with an active subscription to play anything, and one subscription covers streaming on 3 devices. Everything happens in the browser on your phone, tablet, computer or a TV with a browser, and the interface and catalog are in Afrikaans. The website opens outside South Africa too, but the service can restrict individual titles by region. With a South African VPN server, the whole Afrikaans catalog is within reach, including titles limited by region.

Discover Sport is a free South African platform that works as a social network built purely around sport. Athletes, clubs and federations upload their own videos and live streams, alongside competition broadcasts and the round-the-clock PADELTIME TV channel. It’s operated by Discover Sport (Pty) Ltd in Kyalami, Gauteng, founded by Stephen Watson. As of September 2026 it hosts more than 9,300 public videos and nearly 7,000 channels, from Africa Netball qualifiers to Sunshine Tour golf and EFC MMA. Everything is free and ad-supported, with no subscription or in-app purchases. You can watch without signing up; an account is only needed to upload or go live, and creators earn 40 to 56 percent of net ad revenue. Recordings go up to Full HD, and the interface is in English. Use it on the web, which installs on your phone like an app, or on iPhone, iPad and Android. Creators can choose country by country where each video plays. With a VPN server in South Africa, those videos open too, just like at home.

Racing Today is a free South African streaming platform for horse racing. It’s owned by 4Racing, the racecourse operator based at Turffontein in Johannesburg, and was previously known as 4RacingTV. Live channels include Racing 240 and Global Racing 1, meetings from Kenilworth and Greyville, and racing from Britain, France and Hong Kong. There are also on-demand races, an archive you can filter by date and track, and shows like Coffee with Colin. Streaming is free, and a free email account unlocks mobile downloads, favorites, reminders and a program guide that reaches back seven days. Concurrent streams are unlimited, the main channel goes up to Full HD, and the web and app interface is in English. Watch in a browser on PC or Mac, on iPhone, iPad and Android, or cast with Chromecast. In South Africa, Racing 240 also airs on DStv. Per its FAQ, replays and the archive are available worldwide, while some live channels stay tied to South Africa. Switch on a VPN with a South African server and those channels open up in minutes, putting Turffontein live on your screen wherever you are.

AfriDocs is a free website for African and international documentary films, run by STEPS, a Cape Town nonprofit, in partnership with the Bertha Foundation. Its streaming section, AfriDocs Anytime, gathers dozens of documentaries by filmmakers from across Africa, sorted into award winners, international titles and new additions, from The Letter and Zinder to Mama Africa and Days of Cannibalism, added in 2026. The Generation Africa collection follows young Africans on the move, while COVID19Stories brings short South African films from the pandemic. Watching is free with no sign-up, no account and no subscription, just an optional newsletter. Films play in an embedded YouTube player from the Afri Docs channel, where you can also find them directly. The site works in any browser on your computer or phone, and there are no dedicated apps. According to YouTube data, most films are cleared almost everywhere, but more than a third are restricted mainly to Africa. A VPN with a South African server brings the Africa-only films into reach as well.

TBN Africa is a South African Christian TV channel that streams live around the clock on its website, free and with no sign-up. It’s run by TBN Broadcasting in Africa, a Johannesburg nonprofit in the US Trinity Broadcasting Network family, and at home it airs on DStv channel 343. The schedule mixes ministry, worship, lifestyle, youth shows, documentaries and faith-based movies, featuring Joseph Prince and Rhema Hour. According to the website, most content is local African programming. The On-Demand archive, with originals like TBN Meets and Hope Found, opens after a free myTBN sign-up with your email and name. There’s no subscription or paid tier, since the channel is funded by donations and advertising. It has no app of its own, so you watch in a browser on your computer or phone, with the live stream reaching Full HD. Programming is in English. The live stream page opens outside South Africa too, though archive videos may not play there. A VPN with a South African server gives you a South African IP address, so South African sites and services open as they do at home.

Afree TV is a free, ad-supported pan-African streaming service that launched on 30 April 2026, powered by South Africa’s Sentech on its Freevision Play engine. It streams live channels such as LN247, SportsCast Africa, Homebase TV and Millennium TV, plus on-demand African films and live radio, all in a web browser with no subscription.

DAZN is a sports-first streaming service built to compete with traditional pay-TV sports channels. The schedule shifts dramatically from country to country: in Germany it carries the Bundesliga and Champions League matches, in Italy it owns the majority of Serie A, in Japan it runs baseball and boxing. The global side of DAZN remains its combat sports division, where it has become one of the biggest buyers of marquee boxing pay-per-view events.

Netflix didn’t invent streaming but it set the rules everyone else now plays by. With 325 million paying subscribers across 190 countries and a stable of shows like Squid Game, Stranger Things and Wednesday, it still defines what mainstream streaming looks like. Recent pushes into live sports and ad-supported plans show the company is willing to bend its own playbook when the market demands it.

Apple TV+ takes the opposite approach to almost everyone else: no licensed back catalogue, only original productions. The result is a comparatively small library where misses are rare and hits like Ted Lasso, Severance, Slow Horses and For All Mankind have picked up Emmys. A single tier covers 4K HDR with Dolby Atmos, and the service is bundled into Apple One for households already invested in the Apple ecosystem.

Prime Video lives inside the wider Prime bundle, so streaming is only part of what you’re paying for. The content mix is unusual: splashy originals (The Boys, The Rings of Power, Reacher) sit next to a huge catalogue of movies available to rent or buy and a growing set of optional add-on Channels. Prime has also turned into a heavyweight in live sports, from Thursday Night Football to Champions League in select markets.

Disney+ is the one place where Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic sit alongside the general-entertainment hub Star. It launched globally in November 2019 and reached the Czech Republic in June 2022. Most markets now offer three tiers: an ad-supported entry plan plus the ad-free Standard (Full HD) and Premium (4K HDR with Dolby Atmos), while a few countries such as the Czech Republic keep only the two ad-free plans. Annual billing trims roughly two months off the yearly cost.