The cost of South African internet domains is going up by 6.2% from 1 October – an increase well above inflation, despite the fee being set under what the .za Domain Name Authority (.zadna) describes as a CPI-linked pricing methodology.

.Zadna, the statutory regulator of the .za namespace, said on Friday that the registry fee adjustment will apply to the commercial second-level domains co.za – by far the most widely used South African domain – as well as org.za, net.za and web.za.

The 6.2% increase is significantly higher than any inflation print South Africa has recorded in at least a year. Consumer price inflation was 4.5% in May, its highest level since July 2024 and a figure inflated by sharp, conflict-driven fuel price increases – before that, the rate had hovered between 2.8% and 4% for months, touching 3% as recently as February.

.Zadna said the adjustment “is based on the approved CPI-linked pricing methodology” adopted after a 2024 public consultation on registry fees and the authority’s general second-level domain policy. The approach, it said, “provides a transparent and predictable pricing framework, enabling accredited registrars, resellers and registrants to plan effectively while supporting the long-term sustainability of the .za namespace”.

The registry fee is a wholesale charge levied at registry level and paid by accredited registrars. Whether – and by how much – the increase reaches consumers and businesses that own domains will depend on how registrars and their resellers choose to pass it on.

Not for profit

.Zadna said the revised fee will “support continued investment in critical registry infrastructure, DNS resilience, cybersecurity, domain name abuse management, regulatory and policy compliance, service delivery, and the long-term development of South Africa’s domain name ecosystem”.

Read: Uber’s mega-deal hands Prosus a R40-billion exit

The authority is a not-for-profit company established under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002. It regulates the .za namespace and is accountable to its members and the department of communications & digital technologies. — © 2026 NewsCentral Media