Internet usage in South Africa is rapidly increasing, according to statistics released by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) recently. The latest figures reflect Internet usage over July, August and September this year, and reveal that the number of online users has increased by roughly 3 million.

In 2006, 4,8 million unique online users were recorded. 2007 has seen a growth of nearly 163%, with 7,8 million online users recorded. The statistics were measured across member sites of the OPA. The organisation aims to represent major players in South African online publishing, and includes IOL, Media 24, iafrica.com, Vodacom.co.za and thunda.com among its membership.

Chairman of OPA, Matthew Buckland, highlighted the extent of the growth in Internet usage, which comes as a surprise to many. Leading local research company World Wide Worx’s latest report, Internet Access in South Africa 2007, had predicted much slower growth in Internet, and specifically broadband, penetration. According to the report, only 8% of South Africans are Internet users. The OPA figures, limited in their measurement to member sites, may not provide an entirely accurate picture of the current Internet usage situation in South Africa.

The growth is reportedly concentrated in the top segment of the market, which largely consists of broadband users. This could account for the rapid growth in Internet usage despite persisting price barriers to access.

Within the OPA membership, a top 10 list of websites was generated. User numbers were measured and audited independently by international Internet media and marketing research solutions company Nielsen/NetRatings. Measuring all traffic, both international and local, News 24 was ranked first, with nearly 1, 5 million unique monthly visitors to its website. IOL was ranked second, with 1 259 091 unique monthly browsers, with MWeb following at 737 881 unique monthly browsers. The rest of the top ten consists of, in order, Webmail, 24.com, Autotrader, Health24, Mail & Guardian Online, iafrica.com and BidorBuy.

When only local traffic was measured, News 24 remained in first place, but IOL was bumped down by MWeb and Webmail. Mybroadband.co.za was listed as the largest IT-related website in South Africa, with 288 749 unique visitors during October. ITWeb followed as the second largest IT-related website.

Despite the positive growth reported above, South Africa continues to have some of the slowest Internet access speeds in the world. Recent reports place South Africa 28th on a list of 30 countries, beating only India and Indonesia. While it has among the highest speeds in Africa, Africa remains the continent with the slowest speeds.