South Africa’s biggest companies by market value, ranked
The 15 largest South African companies by market value on 29 September 2026: three gold miners and three banks in the top six. What the ranking shows and how to read it.
The lists
South Africa, ranked
The biggest, the best funded and the most valuable, ranked from sources you can check. Every list is dated, says how it was built, and is updated when the numbers change.
South Africa’s biggest startup funding rounds, ranked
Seven of the largest disclosed funding rounds raised by South African startups, ranked by size, each tied to a dated announcement. Plus why we rank rounds, not 'total funding'.
South Africa’s biggest banks, compared on the numbers that actually differ
Capitec has the most customers, FirstRand the highest market cap, Standard Bank by far the highest profit and Capitec the best return on equity. Which bank is actually 'the biggest' depends entirely on what a business needs from one.
South Africa’s biggest telecoms companies, ranked by subscribers, not hype
Vodacom leads South Africa on subscribers with 50.7 million, MTN is close behind on value, and a fourth operator, Rain, has spent three years building real network reach most South Africans have never had to think about.
How we rank
- One source per column, named and dated, so the numbers agree with each other.
- We rank what can be checked. Where databases disagree, as they do on startup funding totals, we rank dated announcements instead and say why.
- Each list says what it leaves out, and marks anything that is not like for like.
- Spot a mistake or a missing company? Tell us and we will check it and correct the list.