SA’s telcos have a customer service problem
Customer frustrations include network outages, billing disputes and failed service channels, a study finds.
South Africa's telecom industry is grappling with a customer service crisis, according to a new report by DataEQ. The study analyzed over 653,000 social media mentions of five major mobile network operators between October 2025 and March 2026. The findings revealed that three out of the five operators had a negative operational sentiment score, with Vodacom recording the worst score at -48%.
The report highlighted recurring problems like network reliability, billing disputes, and failed service channels as driving the negative sentiment. Rain and Cell C performed best, with Rain leading at 16% and Cell C at 11%. MTN and Telkom, on the other hand, scored -17% each. The biggest issue was poor customer service, with long turnaround times, staff competency issues, and inaccessible channels identified as major problems.
The report also noted that social media was being used as an escalation mechanism, with customers turning to it when traditional channels failed. Improving customer experience, according to the report, requires operators to address service failures alongside infrastructure issues.
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