 On the west coast, "M. capensis" occurs as far north as Benguela in Angola, where its distribution overlaps that of "Merluccius polli", the Benguela hake.It lives close to the bottom on the continental shelf and upper slope at depths from 50 to 500 m, usually not below 400 m. Its preferred depth partly overlaps that of "Merluccius paradoxus" between depths of 200 and 400 m.

In South Africa, "M. capensis" is one of the most important commercial food fishes.It is known locally (from the Afrikaans "stokvis") as stockfish, not to be confused with the dried cod usually known by that name.