Current time in Cape Town
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, keeps South Africa Standard Time at UTC+02:00 all year, with no clock changes.
Current time in Cape Town
17:22:12
Africa/Johannesburg · UTC+02:00
Time zone in Cape Town
Sunrise and sunset in Cape Town
Sun and clock in Cape Town
Averaged over the year, solar noon in Cape Town comes at 12:46, because the city lies about 12° west of the meridian its clock is set to.
Africa/Johannesburg is named after Johannesburg, 1,260 km to the north-east. The sun crosses the meridian over Cape Town 38 minutes later than over Johannesburg, although the two clocks always agree.
Daylight through the year in Cape Town
On the same clock, the sun rises in Cape Town between 20 and 57 minutes later and sets between 20 and 57 minutes later than in Johannesburg, depending on the date, and Cape Town’s longest day is 38 minutes longer than Johannesburg’s.
Sydney (33.9°S) and Santiago (33.4°S) lie on almost the same parallel as Cape Town, so their days stay within 3 minutes of Cape Town’s all year; the clock in Sydney is 8 h or 9 h ahead of Cape Town, depending on the date, and in Santiago 5 h or 6 h behind Cape Town, depending on the date.
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 15 | 05:34 | 19:27 | 13 h 53 m |
| December 15 | 05:30 | 19:53 | 14 h 24 m |
| January 15 | 05:51 | 20:00 | 14 h 9 m |
| February 15 | 06:22 | 19:39 | 13 h 18 m |
| March 15 | 06:46 | 19:05 | 12 h 19 m |
| April 15 | 07:09 | 18:24 | 11 h 15 m |
| May 15 | 07:32 | 17:54 | 10 h 22 m |
| June 15 | 07:50 | 17:44 | 9 h 54 m |
| July 15 | 07:49 | 17:55 | 10 h 6 m |
| August 15 | 07:25 | 18:16 | 10 h 51 m |
| September 15 | 06:46 | 18:38 | 11 h 52 m |
| October 15 | 06:05 | 18:59 | 12 h 55 m |
When the clocks change in Cape Town
Cape Town has no tz database entry of its own: it keeps Africa/Johannesburg, named after Johannesburg. The database promises that the two clocks have agreed since 1970, and makes no claim for the years before. The rules that entry follows, and how long they have applied, are on the Johannesburg page.
Calling Cape Town from another time zone
| Place | Cape Town’s 09:00–17:00 there | Shared working hours | Over the next 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| UTC | 07:00–15:00 | — | — |
| New York | 02:00–10:00 | 1 h, 16:00–17:00 Cape Town time | 1 h to 2 h |
| London | 07:00–15:00 | 6 h, 11:00–17:00 Cape Town time | 6 h to 7 h |
| Tokyo | 16:00–00:00 | 1 h, 09:00–10:00 Cape Town time | always 1 h |
Cape Town compared with other cities
| City | Local time | Date | UTC offset | Difference from Cape Town | Over the next 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | — | — | UTC-05:00 | 7 h behind | 7 h behind / 6 h behind |
| London | — | — | UTC+00:00 | 2 h behind | 2 h behind / 1 h behind |
| Dubai | — | — | UTC+04:00 | 2 h ahead | all year |
| New Delhi | — | — | UTC+05:30 | 3 h 30 min ahead | all year |
| Singapore | — | — | UTC+08:00 | 6 h ahead | all year |
| Tokyo | — | — | UTC+09:00 | 7 h ahead | all year |
| Sydney | — | — | UTC+11:00 | 9 h ahead | 8 h ahead / 9 h ahead |
Nearby cities
Other places in this directory that keep Africa/Johannesburg time: Johannesburg.
| City | Distance | Clock | Solar noon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg | 1,260 km north-east | same clock | 38 minutes earlier |
| Nairobi | 4,100 km north-east | 1 h ahead | 1 h 14 min earlier |
| Lagos | 4,770 km north | 1 h behind | 1 h later |
| Accra | 4,810 km north-west | 2 h behind | 1 h 14 min later |
| Addis Ababa | 5,250 km north-east | 1 h ahead | 1 h 21 min earlier |
| Rio de Janeiro | 6,060 km west | 5 h behind | 4 h 6 min later |
| São Paulo | 6,340 km west | 5 h behind | 4 h 20 min later |
| Jeddah | 6,540 km north-east | 1 h ahead | 1 h 23 min earlier |
No city in this directory on another identifier keeps exactly Cape Town’s clock.
Time zone rules: IANA tz database release 2026c, applied when this page was generated on 2026-11-02.
Frequently asked questions
What time zone is Cape Town in?
Cape Town keeps Africa/Johannesburg, South Africa Standard Time, at UTC+02:00 all year. The identifier is named after Johannesburg; Cape Town has shown the same time as Johannesburg since at least 1970.
Is all of South Africa on the same time as Cape Town?
Yes. Africa/Johannesburg is the tz database’s only entry for South Africa, and Cape Town keeps it.
Which other countries keep exactly the same time as Cape Town?
15 other countries and territories keep exactly Cape Town’s clock, with no clock changes either.
What is the time difference between Cape Town and Nairobi?
The clock in Nairobi, Kenya, about 4,100 km away and the closest city in this directory on a different clock, is 1 h ahead of Cape Town.