The messaging platform has developed a sizeable base among highly active online users, while bots, channels and mini apps are expanding its role beyond chat. Data supplied by Telegram advertising sales partner Magnetto, drawing on Statista research, puts monthly Telegram use at 48.5% of surveyed South African internet users aged 16 to 64. “Within that context, however, the data points to Telegram having established a significant presence in the South African online market.” That helps explain why Telegram does not need to displace WhatsApp to build a viable South African market. Telegram’s South African audience still requires more extensive local measurement before its exact size can be established.