How much does it cost to drive to South Africa's most popular holiday destinations this December – including gas and tolls
South Africans planning to travel domestically during the December festive season should expect to pay more for transportation than they have in the past due to record-high petrol prices and increased toll costs. According to a recent InfoQuest survey, three out of every four South Africans plan to travel away from home this December, with
How much does it cost to drive to South Africa's most popular holiday destinations this December – including gas and tolls
South Africans planning to travel domestically during the December festive season should expect to pay more for transportation than they have in the past due to record-high petrol prices and increased toll costs.
According to a recent InfoQuest survey, three out of every four South Africans plan to travel away from home this December, with half of these travellers expecting to spend more than they did in 2021.
Despite a reprieve in August, September, and October after prices skyrocketed due to Russia-Ukraine conflict, South African motorists continue to pay more than R20/litre for petrol.
South Africans driving petrol vehicles are now paying R3.85 (19.6%) more for a litre of petrol, while diesel drivers are paying R6.68 (38.7%) more since the beginning of the year, when 95 petrol was R19.61 and diesel was R17.24.
Increasing toll fees, which the Department of Transportation updated in March 2022, is kicking motorists while they’re down.
How much does it cost?
Taking these rising costs into account, BusinessTech calculated the cost of travelling to South Africa’s most popular holiday destinations in the country’s best-selling cars in five categories – bakkie, SUV, hatchback, sedan, and crossover – after factoring in the cost of petrol and current toll fees.
The best-selling cars in South Africa in the selected categories were chosen from the most recent Naamsa new vehicle sales report.
Based on the manufacturer’s provided average fuel consumption per/100km, we calculated how much fuel each of these cars consumes.
In each case, the least expensive model from the manufacturer was considered. For comparison, 95 octane (R23.46) and 0.05% diesel prices (R23.92) as of December 2022 were used.
We then calculated the fuel costs for some of South Africa’s most popular vacation destinations, using the City of Johannesburg/Tshwane as a baseline. These costs were then added to the most recent toll charges as of March 1, 2022.
Toyota Hilux 2.4GD-6 double cab
- 7.1 litres/100km*
- R169.83/100km
Toyota Fortuner 2.4GD-6
- 6.8 litres/100km*
- R162.65/100km
Suzuki Swift
- 4.9 litres/100km
- R114.95/100km
Toyota Corolla Quest 1.8 Plus
- 7 litres/100km
- R164.22/100km
Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 Xi
- 6.8/100km
- R159.52/100km
Estimated fuel cost
| Car | Johannesburg to Cape Town | Johannesburg to Durban | Johannesburg to Gqeberha | Johannesburg to Kruger National Park |
| Toyota Hilux | R2 373.88 | R963.62 | R1 775.40 | R689.50 |
| Toyota Fortuner | R2 273.52 | R922.87 | R1 700.34 | R660.35 |
| Suzuki Swift | R1 606.77 | R652.22 | R1 201.68 | R466.69 |
| Toyota Corolla Quest | R2 295.46 | R931.78 | R1 716.75 | R666.73 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross | R2 229.77 | R905.11 | R1 667.62 | R647.65 |
Estimated toll cost
| Car | Johannesburg to Cape Town | Johannesburg to Durban | Johannesburg to Gqeberha | Johannesburg to Kruger National Park |
| Toyota Hilux | R205.50 | R286.50 | R161.00 | R174.00 |
| Toyota Fortuner | R205.50 | R286.50 | R161.00 | R174.00 |
| Suzuki Swift | R205.50 | R286.50 | R161.00 | R174.00 |
| Toyota Corolla Quest | R205.50 | R286.50 | R161.00 | R174.00 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross | R205.50 | R286.50 | R161.00 | R174.00 |
Estimated total cost
| Car | Johannesburg to Cape Town | Johannesburg to Durban | Johannesburg to Gqeberha | Johannesburg to Kruger National Park |
| Toyota Hilux | R2 579.38 | R1 250.12 | R1 936.40 | R863.50 |
| Toyota Fortuner | R2 479.02 | R1 209.37 | R1 861.34 | R824.35 |
| Suzuki Swift | R1 812.27 | R938.72 | R1 362.68 | R640.69 |
| Toyota Corolla Quest | R2 500.96 | R1 218.28 | R1 877.75 | R840.73 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross | R2 435.27 | R1 191.61 | R1 828.62 | R821.65 |
Tolls
The following routes and tolls were used for the above comparison:
Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | |
| Grasmere | R22.50 | R67.00 | R78.00 | R103.00 |
| Vaal | R74.50 | R140.00 | R169.00 | R225.00 |
| Verkeerdevlei | R64.00 | R128.00 | R193.00 | R271.00 |
| Huguenot | R44.50 | R123.00 | R193.00 | R313.00 |
| Total Cost | R205.50 | R458.00 | R633.00 | R912.00 |
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Durban
| Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | |
| De Hoek | R56.00 | R86.00 | R132.00 | R189.00 |
| Wilge | R77.00 | R133.00 | R177.00 | R251.00 |
| Tugela | R82.00 | R136.00 | R214.00 | R296.00 |
| Mooi | R58.00 | R141.00 | R197.00 | R267.00 |
| Marianhill | R13.50 | R24.00 | R30.00 | R47.00 |
| Total Cost | R286.50 | R520.00 | R750.00 | R1 050.00 |
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Gqeberha
| Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | |
| Grasmere | R22.50 | R67.00 | R78.00 | R103.00 |
| Vaal | R74.50 | R140.00 | R169.00 | R225.00 |
| Verkeerdevlei | R64.00 | R128.00 | R193.00 | R271.00 |
| Total Cost | R161.00 | R335 | R440 | R599 |
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Kruger National Park
| Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | |
| Middelburg | R70.00 | R151.00 | R229.00 | R301.00 |
| Machadodorp | R104.00 | R289.00 | R421.00 | R601.00 |
| Total Cost | R174.00 | R440.00 | R650.00 | R902.00 |
