Comic Con Africa drew around 20,000 fans a day to the Johannesburg Expo Centre (Nasrec) between 24 and 27 September, roughly 80,000 visitors over four days, and the organiser says that makes it the fourth-largest Comic Con in the world. “Behind only events in Brazil, San Diego and New York” is how Carol Weaving, managing director of organiser RX Africa, put it in an interview with TechCentral. The ranking is her claim, not an independent measure.
Attendance figures differ depending on the source. Organisers had projected about 70,000 visitors across the four days, according to the Rio Times, which also reported that Saturday sold out with no day tickets available at the gate. The 80,000 figure follows from the 20,000 daily cap over four days.
Growth on a cap
The show began in 2018 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, where attendance exceeded the venue’s capacity. It moved to Gallagher Estate, outgrew that too, and is now at Nasrec, where RX Africa caps tickets at 20,000 a day. “To maintain that status, growth has to be managed organically,” Weaving said. “It’s about ticket caps, safety and expanding physical footprint spaces, like seating areas and food villages.”
Tickets were sold through Howler, with a four-day pass priced at R750 and daily passes starting at R250 in the early pricing phase, according to Gauteng Tourism’s event listing. Children under five entered free, and the show ran from 9am to 6pm each day over the Heritage Day long weekend. The listing pointed shoppers to Thursday and Friday for smaller crowds and named Saturday as the busiest day.
RX Africa also runs a sister show in Cape Town. According to Wikipedia’s entry on Comic Con Cape Town, that event began in 2023 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre with 27,484 attendees, passed 32,000 in 2024 and reached 34,000 in 2026. It is due to move from CTICC 2 to the larger CTICC 1 in 2027, with organisers expecting about 40,000 visitors. RX Africa was formerly Reed Exhibitions and is part of RELX.
The programme mixed the usual pop-culture staples with esports. Saturday’s main-stage attraction was the Championship of Cosplay final, and the guest list included voice actor Christopher Judge, the Rick and Morty voice cast and comic artists Jim Cheung and Mike Rooth, who ran Artist Alley sessions. The Rio Times counted more than 300 vendors on the floor.
Where the money comes from
The show earns from ticket sales, sponsorships and activations, and exhibition space rentals. This year’s sponsors included Telkom, Red Bull and Kellogg’s. Weaving said the way brands spend at the show has changed. “Content creators are effectively replacing traditional ad agencies for brands at the show,” she said. “Brands want face-to-face community engagement, and working directly with creators allows them to convert casual gamers into hardware and software buyers.”
Weaving’s comments point to how RX Africa intends to grow: hold the ticket limit at 20,000 a day and add seating areas and food villages instead.
Weapons, safety and rAge
South African law restricts realistic prop weapons, so RX Africa runs drop-off and collection points for the replicas attendees bring for guest signings. Anti-harassment rules and a “Cosplay is Not Consent” policy apply at the venue and on the event’s digital platforms.
Weaving confirmed that RX Africa has approached rAge, the long-running local gaming expo, about working together on numerous occasions, but she would not give details because they are covered by non-disclosure agreements.
rAge is not standing still. Its organisers announced on 30 July that the expo is relaunching as a gaming and esports festival in partnership with esports company Mettlestate, set for 27 to 29 November at Fourways Mall in Johannesburg, according to rAge’s own announcement. The BYOC LAN, esports, cosplay and tabletop gaming stay in the line-up. More on the sector is in our Tech and Telco coverage and our Retail and Consumer reporting, plus the guides library.
