About .co.za Domains

Registry.net.za is the sponsor and Hexonet aka 1 Api GmbH is our backend provider for the country-code top-level domain name (ccTLD) .co.za extensions that represent Republic of South Africa.

Who can register .co.za domains?

Anyone can register a .co.za domain.

Registration restrictions

When registering a .co.za domain, you must follow specific requirements.

• Must use: 1-63 characters
• Can use: Letters (a-z characters), numbers (0-9) and hyphens (except in the 1st or last characters of the domain name)
• Cannot use: Special characters (e.g., & and #)
• IDNs: Supported

Features

• Registration Length: 1 year
• Renewal Length: 1 year
• Your .co.za domain name must be renewed at least 2 days prior to expiration to avoid a redemption fee and downtime. If you do not pay the fee, the renewal fails before its expiration date and the domain will be parked and locked upon expiration.
• You can renew your .co.za domain name at any time prior to this. However, only single year renewals are permitted unless the domain is already in redemption, then a 2 year renewal can be requested.
• If auto-renew is enabled, we attempt to renew the domain starting 19 days prior to the expiration date. See Renew my expired domain for more information. You'll need to pay the renewal fee at the time of restore.
• Backorders: Not Supported
• Transfers to GoDaddy: Supported
• The transfer-in process is unique to .co.za domains and does not include a free one-year extension.
• An authorization code may be needed if you are transferring away from Hexonet aka 1 Api GmbH, or one their partners. Otherwise the authorization code is not required and this field can be left blank to further authorize the transfer from your account.
• Once the transfer is authorized in your account it will trigger an e-mail voting procedure. An e-mail will be sent from the registry (ZADNA) to each Whois contact (Owner, Admin, Tech, and Billing). At least one party has to APPROVE for a successful transfer. The transfer will fail if at least one party denies the transfer, and if there are NO votes received (APPROVE or DENY), the domain will not be transferred. If a party doesn´t vote, the vote will be disregarded.
• If the transfer is not accepted in 5 days, the .CO.ZA transfer will fail.
• Transfers away from GoDaddy: Supported
• The transfer-away process is unique for .co.za. The domain does not need to be unlocked, and authorization code is not needed to transfer, unless you are transferring to Hexonet aka 1 Api GmbH, or one of their partner's a user transfer authorization code is needed. Please reach out to our award-winning GoDaddy Guides for help if you do need the user transfer auth code.
• For non-Hexonet partner transfers, you must first request the transfer with the new registrar, which will trigger an e-mail voting procedure. An e-mail will be sent from the registry (ZADNA) to each Whois contact (Owner, Admin, Tech, and Billing). At least one party has to APPROVE for a successful transfer. The transfer will fail if at least one party denies the transfer, and if there are NO votes received (APPROVE or DENY), the domain will not be transferred. If a party doesn´t vote, the vote will be disregarded.
• If the transfer is not accepted in 5 days, the .co.za transfer will fail.

Note: A co.za domain name cannot be transfered within the first 7 days following registration.

• Transfers to another GoDaddy account: Not Supported
• Ownership Protection: Not Supported
• Privacy Protection: Not Supported
• CashParking: Not Supported
• Contact Updates: Supported
• After completing a contact update, the domain will be locked for up to 7 days while the update processes at the registry.

Nameserver requirements

• Must use: 0-5 Nameservers, Authoritative Nameservers
• Can use: IPv4, IPv6
• Cannot use: Vanity Nameservers, DNSSEC
• Nameserver updates take up to 7 days. During this time the domain will remain locked and no other changes may be made.

Refunds

For details on refunds, see our refund policy. Most domains will follow the Standard Refund Terms, but certain domains may have exceptions or may not be refundable at all. Review the information under Products with Special Refund Terms > Domain Name Registrations/Renewals and Products Not Eligible for Refunds.

Cancellation requirements

To cancel your .co.za domain name, please contact our support team for assistance.

More info

• Want to register a .co.za domain? Search for your domain today.
• Check out our most common domain articles to get started with your .za domain.