How much it costs to drive to South Africa’s popular holiday destinations this December – petrol and tolls
South Africans planning to travel domestically over the December festive season can expect to pay more than they ever have for transport costs as they grapple with record-high petrol prices and increased toll costs.
A recent survey by InfoQuest revealed that three in four South Africans say they will be taking a holiday away from home this December, with 50% of these travellers saying that they expect to be spending more than they did in 2021.
Motorists still pay more than R20/litre for petrol in South Africa, despite the reprieve in August, September, and October after prices rocketed due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
South Africans with petrol vehicles are now paying R3.85 (19.6%) more for a litre of petrol, while diesel motorists are paying a significant R6.68 (38.7%) more for a litre since the start of the year when the price of 95 petrol was R19.61, and diesel was R17.24.
Kicking motorists while they’re down is increasing toll fees, which the Department of Transport updated in March 2022.
How much it costs
Taking these growing costs into account, BusinessTech calculated how much it would cost to travel to South Africa’s most popular holiday destinations in the country’s best-selling cars in five categories – bakkie, SUV, hatchback, sedan, and crossover – factoring in the cost of petrol and the current toll fees.
South Africa’s best-selling cars in the selected categories were selected from the latest new vehicle sales report provided by Naamsa.
We then calculated how much fuel each of these cars consumes based on the manufacturer’s provided average fuel consumption per/100km.
In each case, the manufacturer’s least expensive model was considered. 95 octane (R23.46) and 0.05% diesel prices (R23.92) as of December 2022 were used for comparison purposes.
We then calculated the fuel costs when travelling to some of South Africa’s most popular holiday destinations, using the City of Johannesburg/Tshwane as a benchmark. These costs were then added to the latest toll costs as of 1 March 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 routes and tolls that were taken for the above comparison were as follows:
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Cape Town
| 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 |
*Indicates a car has a diesel engine.
All prices are estimates and are based on the manufacturer’s average fuel consumption per/100km. Prices are for comparison purposes only and are not meant as financial advice.
Read: Expect flight ticket prices to be five times higher over Christmas – and stay high for a long time to come
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