WhatsApp Business API for Pretoria, one decision at a time
Pretoria runs the country's government and builds BMWs for more than 40 markets. An Indian business writing to either side needs to answer the same few questions about every message before it leaves.
Trade 1
Government and diplomacy
The administrative capital, the Union Buildings and India's High Commission in Arcadia: meetings, delegations and documents, timed in SAST.
Trade 2
Cars for the world
BMW's Rosslyn plant and its suppliers, with cars and parts at the top of India's exports to South Africa: dispatch notices and shortage alerts.
For Indian auto-component exporters, minerals partners, edtech firms and consultants with contacts in Pretoria: a decision path for every message, from the number it goes to and the opt-in behind it to POPIA's direct-marketing rule, plus SAST timing, template languages and rupee costs.
See it work
Should this message go to Pretoria, and how?
Answer a few questions about one message to one Pretoria contact, a buyer at a Rosslyn supplier, an official, a visiting delegate, and the tree tells you what to send.
Most messages an Indian supplier sends to Pretoria end at the third question: a parts dispatch, a booking or a requested document is a utility template, and the direct-marketing rule never comes into it. The tree gets longer only when a message tries to sell something.
The first question catches the other common mistake. Delegates, students and officials visiting from India often keep their Indian numbers, and a +91 number is an Indian recipient, billed at the India rate, wherever in Pretoria the phone happens to be. InfiQ's consent records keep the opt-in behind every branch.
A decision path for one Pretoria message
Question 1 · up to 5
Which number is the Pretoria contact on?
Your answers
None yet — pick an answer to start down the tree.
Path map
Depth 0 of up to 5. Circles are questions, squares are outcomes.
All possible outcomes (6)
An Indian recipient: the India rate
A +91 number is billed at the India rate even in Pretoria. Updates go as utility templates; marketing needs the person's opt-in.
Path: “An Indian +91 number, e.g. a visiting delegate”
Get the opt-in first
WhatsApp's policy needs the person's number and their opt-in before a business messages them. Ask on your order form, or invite them to write to you.
Path: “A South African +27 number” → “No, or we are not sure”
Send a utility template
At the South Africa rate. It promotes nothing, so section 69's direct-marketing test does not arise.
Path: “A South African +27 number” → “Yes, and it is recorded” → “Yes: a dispatch, a booking, a document”
A marketing template, with a way to object
Section 69(3): details obtained in a sale, your own similar products, and a free chance to object in every message, which names you.
Path: “A South African +27 number” → “Yes, and it is recorded” → “No: it promotes a product, service or event” → “Yes, on both counts”
A marketing template, with your identity and an opt-out
Section 69(4): every direct-marketing message names the sender and gives contact details for asking that the messages stop.
Path: “A South African +27 number” → “Yes, and it is recorded” → “No: it promotes a product, service or event” → “No” → “Yes, and it is recorded”
Ask once, inside a chat they started
Section 69(2) allows one approach for consent to a person who has not refused it. Ask in a conversation the contact began, and record the answer either way.
Path: “A South African +27 number” → “Yes, and it is recorded” → “No: it promotes a product, service or event” → “No” → “Not yet”
Question 1: Which number is the Pretoria contact on? 2 options.
Pretoria and India, from the sources
The government, India's High Commission, BMW and UNISA.
The South African government describes Pretoria as the administrative capital and home to the Union Buildings; Gauteng holds 25.3% of the country's population.[1]
India's High Commission has its Chancery on Francis Baard Street in Arcadia, Pretoria, and India also has consulates general in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.[2]
India's exports to South Africa were about US$7.46 billion in 2024-25, led by cars and parts, transport equipment, medicines and engineering goods, against imports of about US$10.55 billion.[3]
The High Commission records an India–South Africa Critical Minerals Symposium held at the University of Pretoria on 17 March 2026.[3]
BMW says Plant Rosslyn became its first manufacturing facility outside Germany, builds the X3 and exported over 96% of the third-generation X3's output to more than 40 markets.[4]
UNISA, the University of South Africa, reports more than 370,000 students from South Africa, the rest of Africa and further afield.[5]
Who messages what
Who in India writes to Pretoria
The city's two big employers, government and cars, and two smaller groups that matter to Indian firms.
| Sector | What it sends on WhatsApp |
|---|---|
| Auto-component exporters supplying RosslynCars and parts top India's export list to South Africa; a plant that exports nearly all it builds runs on parts arriving on time.[3],[4] |
|
| Minerals buyers and research partnersIndia buys manganese ore, copper ores and other minerals from South Africa, and the two countries' critical-minerals symposium met in Pretoria.[3] |
|
| Edtech and test-preparation firmsUNISA's distance learners study from all over the country and beyond, on their own phones and their own schedules.[5] |
|
| Consultants and IT firms working with governmentThe administrative capital is where national departments sit; Indian firms with public-sector projects keep project contacts informed.[1] |
|
Template languages for Pretoria contacts
Meta approves each language version separately. Its list covers four of the languages a Pretoria programme is likely to need.
Setswana, Sepedi and South Africa's other official languages are not on Meta's template list, so templates for those contacts go in English and agents can reply in the contact's language inside the 24-hour window. InfiQ's own support team works in English and Hindi.
| Language | Meta code | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| English (South Africa) | en_ZA | Government, plant and supplier contacts |
| Afrikaans | af | Contacts who chose Afrikaans at opt-in |
| isiZulu | zu | Contacts who chose isiZulu at opt-in |
| Hindi | hi | Visiting delegates and customers of Indian origin who asked for it |
Prices in ₹ and ZAR
Two rate lines for one Pretoria list
+27 numbers are billed on South Africa's own line of Meta's rate card: ₹0.8369 for a dispatch notice, ₹3.34 for a marketing template, ₹0.8369 for a passcode and ₹0.8369 for a reply. Plans start at ₹999 a month.
Snapshot rates · as of 20 Oct 2026, 00:02 UTC
Lite
₹999 / month≈ R 172.96 ZAR
₹833 / month, billed yearly≈ R 144.22 ZAR
Everything a growing business needs to run WhatsApp properly.
Growth
₹2,999 / month≈ R 519.23 ZAR
₹2,499 / month, billed yearly≈ R 432.66 ZAR
Lite, plus the API, automation and team scale serious senders need.
Enterprise
Custom volume pricing, custom SLA and dedicated infrastructure.
Per message to Pretoria · South Africa
| Category | ₹ INR | ZAR |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | ₹3.3385 | R 0.578 |
| Utility | ₹0.8369 | R 0.145 |
| Authentication | ₹0.8369 | R 0.145 |
| Service | ₹0.8369 | R 0.145 |
Per-message rates for all 47 markets, in ₹ and ZAR
| Market | Marketing | Utility | Authentication | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | R 0.941₹5.4352 | R 0.396₹2.2874 | R 0.396₹2.2874 | R 0.396₹2.2874 |
| Bangladesh | R 1.11₹6.4397 | R 0.0563₹0.3254 | R 0.0563₹0.3254 | R 0.0563₹0.3254 |
| Brazil | R 0.952₹5.4970 | R 0.104₹0.5981 | R 0.104₹0.5981 | R 0.104₹0.5981 |
| Chile | R 1.35₹7.8162 | R 0.304₹1.7585 | R 0.304₹1.7585 | R 0.304₹1.7585 |
| Colombia | R 0.190₹1.0993 | R 0.0122₹0.0706 | R 0.0122₹0.0706 | R 0.0122₹0.0706 |
| Egypt | R 0.980₹5.6629 | R 0.0548₹0.3167 | R 0.0548₹0.3167 | R 0.0548₹0.3167 |
| France | R 1.31₹7.5588 | R 0.457₹2.6393 | R 0.457₹2.6393 | R 0.457₹2.6393 |
| Germany | R 2.08₹12.0088 | R 0.838₹4.8386 | R 0.838₹4.8386 | R 0.838₹4.8386 |
| Hong Kong | R 1.11₹6.4397 | R 0.396₹2.2867 | R 0.396₹2.2867 | R 0.396₹2.2867 |
| Hungary | R 1.31₹7.5596 | R 0.532₹3.0700 | R 0.532₹3.0700 | R 0.532₹3.0700 |
| India | R 0.163₹0.9435 | R 0.0336₹0.1941 | R 0.0243₹0.1402 | R 0.0251₹0.1450 |
| Indonesia | R 0.626₹3.6133 | R 0.381₹2.1979 | R 0.381₹2.1979 | R 0.381₹2.1979 |
| Iraq | R 0.519₹2.9992 | R 0.120₹0.6943 | R 0.120₹0.6943 | R 0.120₹0.6943 |
| Israel | R 0.537₹3.1045 | R 0.0807₹0.4662 | R 0.0807₹0.4662 | R 0.0807₹0.4662 |
| Italy | R 1.21₹6.9847 | R 0.457₹2.6369 | R 0.457₹2.6369 | R 0.457₹2.6369 |
| Kazakhstan | R 0.919₹5.3098 | R 0.274₹1.5824 | R 0.274₹1.5824 | R 0.274₹1.5824 |
| Kuwait | R 1.21₹6.9671 | R 0.670₹3.8671 | R 0.670₹3.8671 | R 0.670₹3.8671 |
| Malaysia | R 1.31₹7.5644 | R 0.213₹1.2314 | R 0.213₹1.2314 | R 0.213₹1.2314 |
| Mexico | R 0.604₹3.4877 | R 0.129₹0.7471 | R 0.129₹0.7471 | R 0.129₹0.7471 |
| Morocco | R 0.631₹3.6425 | R 0.350₹2.0218 | R 0.350₹2.0218 | R 0.350₹2.0218 |
| Netherlands | R 2.43₹14.0494 | R 0.762₹4.3987 | R 0.762₹4.3987 | R 0.762₹4.3987 |
| Nepal | R 1.11₹6.4397 | R 0.0518₹0.2990 | R 0.0518₹0.2990 | R 0.0518₹0.2990 |
| Nigeria | R 0.786₹4.5421 | R 0.102₹0.5898 | R 0.102₹0.5898 | R 0.102₹0.5898 |
| Oman | R 0.519₹2.9992 | R 0.376₹2.1709 | R 0.376₹2.1709 | R 0.376₹2.1709 |
| Pakistan | R 0.721₹4.1620 | R 0.229₹1.3200 | R 0.229₹1.3200 | R 0.229₹1.3200 |
| Peru | R 1.07₹6.1843 | R 0.457₹2.6392 | R 0.457₹2.6392 | R 0.457₹2.6392 |
| Poland | R 0.556₹3.2105 | R 0.185₹1.0702 | R 0.185₹1.0702 | R 0.185₹1.0702 |
| Qatar | R 0.519₹2.9992 | R 0.183₹1.0547 | R 0.183₹1.0547 | R 0.183₹1.0547 |
| Romania | R 1.31₹7.5596 | R 0.440₹2.5436 | R 0.440₹2.5436 | R 0.440₹2.5436 |
| Russia | R 1.22₹7.0520 | R 0.609₹3.5173 | R 0.609₹3.5173 | R 0.609₹3.5173 |
| Saudi Arabia | R 0.875₹5.0537 | R 0.163₹0.9401 | R 0.163₹0.9401 | R 0.163₹0.9401 |
| Singapore | R 1.11₹6.4397 | R 0.244₹1.4072 | R 0.244₹1.4072 | R 0.244₹1.4072 |
| South Africa | R 0.578₹3.3385 | R 0.145₹0.8369 | R 0.145₹0.8369 | R 0.145₹0.8369 |
| Spain | R 1.08₹6.2161 | R 0.304₹1.7578 | R 0.304₹1.7578 | R 0.304₹1.7578 |
| Sri Lanka | R 1.11₹6.4397 | R 0.0305₹0.1759 | R 0.0305₹0.1759 | R 0.0305₹0.1759 |
| Turkey | R 0.166₹0.9587 | R 0.0137₹0.0792 | R 0.0137₹0.0792 | R 0.0137₹0.0792 |
| Ukraine | R 1.31₹7.5596 | R 0.453₹2.6138 | R 0.453₹2.6138 | R 0.453₹2.6138 |
| United Arab Emirates | R 0.875₹5.0537 | R 0.239₹1.3811 | R 0.239₹1.3811 | R 0.239₹1.3811 |
| United Kingdom | R 0.966₹5.5795 | R 0.335₹1.9346 | R 0.335₹1.9346 | R 0.335₹1.9346 |
| North America | R 0.380₹2.1976 | R 0.0517₹0.2989 | R 0.0517₹0.2989 | R 0.0517₹0.2989 |
| Rest of Africa | R 0.343₹1.9796 | R 0.0609₹0.3516 | R 0.0609₹0.3516 | R 0.0609₹0.3516 |
| Rest of Asia Pacific | R 1.28₹7.4057 | R 0.172₹0.9938 | R 0.172₹0.9938 | R 0.172₹0.9938 |
| Rest of Central & Eastern Europe | R 1.31₹7.5596 | R 0.322₹1.8595 | R 0.322₹1.8595 | R 0.322₹1.8595 |
| Rest of Latin America | R 1.13₹6.5048 | R 0.172₹0.9934 | R 0.172₹0.9934 | R 0.172₹0.9934 |
| Rest of Middle East | R 0.597₹3.4490 | R 0.138₹0.7998 | R 0.138₹0.7998 | R 0.138₹0.7998 |
| Rest of Western Europe | R 0.901₹5.2054 | R 0.260₹1.5019 | R 0.260₹1.5019 | R 0.260₹1.5019 |
| Other | R 0.919₹5.3098 | R 0.117₹0.6769 | R 0.117₹0.6769 | R 0.117₹0.6769 |
Plan prices are monthly, in rupees, excluding GST; yearly billing is two months free. Messages are charged per delivered message on top of the plan, at the rate for the recipient’s country. Full details: InfiQ pricing. Visitors on Indian +91 numbers are billed at the India rate, ₹0.19 for an update. Rand figures in the converter are indicative; InfiQ invoices in rupees.
Work out your own monthly cost by message type.
Calculate your exact costOn InfiQ
The tree, carried into InfiQ
Each branch of the decision path above has a place in the platform.
- Consent records and opt-out enforcement
Records each Pretoria contact's opt-in with its source and time, and enforces STOP, so the second question of the tree has an answer on file.
- Template manager and library
Keep utility and marketing templates apart, in en_ZA and the other languages you need, with your identity and an opt-out line in every marketing one.
- Developer API and webhooks
Your ERP sends the dispatch or shortage template when a Rosslyn order changes status, and signed webhooks report delivery back.
- Shared team inbox
A chat a contact starts is where the one consent request belongs; agents ask it the same way, once, from a shared inbox.
Nearby
City pages near Pretoria
The nearest city guides on this site, in South Africa and its neighbours.
POPIA, section 69 and the South Africa rate apply across the country; the South Africa guide covers them in full.
Guides for Pretoria teams
Questions Pretoria businesses ask
- We supply parts to a Rosslyn assembly line. Is a WhatsApp line-side shortage alert a utility template?
- Yes. It concerns an order the buyer placed and promotes nothing, so it is a utility template at ₹0.8369 per delivered message to a +27 number. Write it to say what is short, when the next consignment lands and who to call, and let your ERP send it.
- Our delegation to a critical-minerals meeting at the University of Pretoria is using Indian SIMs. Which rate applies?
- The India rate. Meta prices by the recipient's country code, so a +91 number is billed at ₹0.19 for an itinerary update even in Pretoria. Marketing templates also reach +91 numbers, with the person's opt-in.
- Can we WhatsApp an official at a department near the Union Buildings about our new software product?
- Only once the decision tree allows it. WhatsApp's policy needs the official's opt-in to your messages first. Then, as a promotion to someone who is not your customer, section 69 allows one request for consent, best asked in a conversation they started. Without consent, send nothing promotional.
- UNISA students learn from all over South Africa. Can our course reminders reach them in Setswana or Sepedi?
- Not as templates: neither language is on Meta's template list. Send the reminder in English (South Africa), en_ZA, or in Afrikaans or isiZulu where a student chose those, and let agents reply in Setswana or Sepedi inside the 24-hour window.
- A buyer in Pretoria with an 012 landline and one in Johannesburg with an 011 landline: same rate, same clock?
- Yes. Both are +27 numbers on South Africa's rate line, and both cities keep SAST, UTC+2, with no daylight saving, three and a half hours behind India all year. Only the stored number differs: +27 12 for Pretoria and +27 11 for Johannesburg, and a landline must be registered on WhatsApp to receive anything.
- Our company is registered in Gauteng, with a parent in Pune. Which of the two should hold the InfiQ account?
- InfiQ serves India-based businesses: it bills in rupees with GST, keeps customer data in India and supports customers in English and Hindi on India time. Your Pune parent could hold an account. If your business is based in Pretoria, talk to sales about whether InfiQ fits, and raise the India data hosting with your POPIA adviser.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these sources on the dates shown. Page updated 2026-10-20.
- [1]South Africa's provinces · South African Government · read 2026-10-20
- [2]High Commission of India, Pretoria (home page and notices) · High Commission of India, Pretoria · read 2026-10-20
- [3]India–South Africa relations (trade 2024-25, diaspora, events) · High Commission of India, Pretoria · read 2026-10-20
- [4]BMW Group Plant Rosslyn · BMW Group · read 2026-10-20
- [5]About Unisa · University of South Africa · read 2026-10-20
- [6]tzdb 'africa' file: Africa/Johannesburg and the SA rules · IANA Time Zone Database · read 2026-10-20
- [7]POPIA section 69: Direct marketing by means of unsolicited electronic communications · popia.co.za · read 2026-10-20
Sort the message, then send it to Pretoria
Indian businesses can start a 7-day Lite trial, no card needed, and run the decision path on their first templates. If your business is based in Pretoria, talk to sales about whether InfiQ fits.
