Qibla direction in South Africa

At a glance

• Pretoria, the capital: 15°, north-north-east, 5,393 km from the Kaaba.
• Johannesburg, the largest city: 15°, north-north-east, 5,446 km from the Kaaba.
• The Qibla turns by 14° across the country, from 9° in Richards Bay to 23° in Cape Town.
• Closest to Makkah: Thohoyandou, 5,036 km. Farthest: Somerset West, 6,560 km.
• Around Pretoria, a magnetic compass points about 20° west of true north (World Magnetic Model 2025, for 2026). On a needle compass, the Qibla there is about 35°.

Qibla from every city in South Africa

Cities of 100,000 people or more, largest first.

Not on the list? Search any town or use your location on the live compass.

Reading these numbers

Each bearing is measured clockwise from true north along the shortest path over the globe, a great circle, which is how the Qibla is worked out. A flat map can mislead, because the Earth is round.

Phone compasses work best after calibrating with a figure-8, away from metal and magnetic cases. Our guide to finding the Qibla also covers the sun, the local mosque and praying when unsure.

Qibla in other countries

Algeria Angola Congo - Kinshasa Egypt Ethiopia Kenya Morocco Mozambique Nigeria Sudan Tanzania Uganda

All countries

City data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Magnetic declination: the World Magnetic Model 2025 (NOAA and the British Geological Survey).