What it costs to drive to South Africa’s popular holiday destinations this Easter – petrol and tolls
South Africans planning to travel domestically over the Easter holidays can expect to pay more for transport costs compared to the December festive season as they contend with higher petrol prices and increased toll costs.
Motorists are now paying almost R25 per litre for petrol in South Africa, despite the third consecutive reprieve in January 2024.
As of 6 March, both petrol and diesel will see price hikes, with petrol going up R1.21 per litre and diesel by R1.06 and R1.19 per litre.
This brought the current cost of fuel up to R24.45 for petrol 95 and R22.62 for diesel 0.005% (wholesale).
Kicking motorists while they’re down is increasing toll fees, which the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) updated this month that will kick in from 1 March 2024 – hiking tolls by 6.25%.
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 – and for bakkies, the cheapest double cab – was considered.
95 octane (R24.45) and 0.005% diesel prices (R22.62) as of March 2024 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 2024.
Toyota Hilux 2.4GD-6 double cab
- 7.1 litres/100km*
- R161/100km
Toyota Fortuner 2.4GD-6
- 6.8 litres/100km*
- R154/100km
VW Polo Vivo hatch 1.4 Trendline
- 5.7 litres/100km
- R139/100km
Toyota Corolla Quest 1.8 Plus
- 7.0 litres/100km
- R171/100km
Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8 Xi
- 6.8/100km
- R166/100km
Estimated fuel cost
| Car | Johannesburg to Cape Town | Johannesburg to Durban | Johannesburg to Gqeberha | Johannesburg to Kruger National Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Hilux | R2 254 | R918 | R1 626 | R650 |
| Toyota Fortuner | R2 156 | R878 | R1 555 | R678 |
| VW Polo Vivo | R1 946 | R792 | R1 404 | R612 |
| Toyota Corolla Quest | R2 394 | R975 | R1 727 | R691 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross | R2 324 | R946 | R1 677 | R671 |
Estimated toll cost
| Car | Johannesburg to Cape Town | Johannesburg to Durban | Johannesburg to Gqeberha | Johannesburg to Kruger National Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Hilux | R233.00 | R326.50 | R182.50 | R286.00 |
| Toyota Fortuner | R233.00 | R326.50 | R182.50 | R286.00 |
| VW Polo Vivo | R233.00 | R326.50 | R182.50 | R286.00 |
| Toyota Corolla Quest | R233.00 | R326.50 | R182.50 | R286.00 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross | R233.00 | R326.50 | R182.50 | R286.00 |
Estimated total cost
| Car | Johannesburg to Cape Town | Johannesburg to Durban | Johannesburg to Gqeberha | Johannesburg to Kruger National Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Hilux | R2 487 | R1 244.50 | R1 808.50 | R936 |
| Toyota Fortuner | R2 389 | R1 204.50 | R1 737.50 | R964 |
| VW Polo Vivo | R2 179 | R1 118.50 | R1 586.50 | R898 |
| Toyota Corolla Quest | R2 627 | R1 301.50 | R1 909.50 | R977 |
| Toyota Corolla Cross | R2 557 | R1 272.50 | R1 859.50 | R957 |
Tolls
The routes and tolls that were taken for the above comparison were as follows:
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Cape Town
| Tollgate | Class 1 – light vehicle with or without a trailer, including motorcycles, motor tricycles and motor cars |
|---|---|
| Grasmere | R25.50 |
| Vaal | R84.50 |
| Verkeerdevlei | R72.50 |
| Huguenot | R50.50 |
| Total Cost | R233 |
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Durban
| Tollgate | Class 1 – light vehicle with or without a trailer, including motorcycles, motor tricycles and motor cars |
|---|---|
| De Hoek | R63.00 |
| Wilge | R88.00 |
| Tugela | R94.00 |
| Mooi | R66.00 |
| Marianhill | R15.50 |
| Total Cost | R326.50 |
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Gqeberha
| Tollgate | Class 1 – light vehicle with or without a trailer, including motorcycles, motor tricycles and motor cars |
|---|---|
| Grasmere | R25.50 |
| Vaal | R84.50 |
| Verkeerdevlei | R72.50 |
| Total Cost | R182.50 |
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Kruger National Park
| Tollgate | Class 1 – light vehicle with or without a trailer, including motorcycles, motor tricycles and motor cars |
|---|---|
| Middelburg | R79.00 |
| Machadodorp | R118.00 |
| Nkomazi | R89.00 |
| Total Cost | R286.00 |
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.
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