How much it costs to drive to South Africa’s most popular holiday destinations this December
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.
Motorists are currently paying more than R20/litre for petrol in South Africa, which equates to a more than R2 increase in two months after the petrol price increased by R1.21 in November and 81 cents in December.
South Africans with petrol vehicles are paying R5.87 (37%) more for a litre of petrol since the start of the year when the price of 95 petrol was R14.86.
Adding to this pain are increasing toll fees which were updated by the Department of Transport in March 2021.
How much it costs
Taking these growing costs into account, BusinessTech calculated how much it will cost to travel to South Africa’s most popular holiday destinations in the country’s best-selling cars, factoring in the cost of petrol and the current toll fees effective from 1 March 2021.
Five of South Africa’s best-selling cars right now were selected on 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 (R20.29) and 0.05% diesel price (R17.93) as of December 2021 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 2021.
Toyota Fortuner 2.4GD-6 – R599,000
- 6.8 litres/100km*
- R121.92/100km
Ford Ranger 2.2TDCi double cab Hi-Rider – R411,800
- 6.5/100km*
- R116.55/100km
Volkswagen Polo Vivo hatch 1.4 Trendline – R227,900
- 5.7 litres/100km
- R115.65/100km
Toyota Corolla Quest 1.8 Plus – R286,800
- 7 litres/100km
- R142.03/100km
BMW 318i – R697,524
- 6.3 litres/100km
- R127.83/100km
Estimated tolls cost
| Car | Johannesburg to Cape Town | Johannesburg to Durban | Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth | Johannesburg to Kruger National Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Fortuner | R197.00 | R285.50 | R154.50 | R66.00 |
| Ford Ranger | R197.00 | R285.50 | R154.50 | R66.00 |
| Volkswagen Polo Vivo | R197.00 | R285.50 | R154.50 | R66.00 |
| Toyota Corolla Quest | R197.00 | R285.50 | R154.50 | R66.00 |
| BMW 318i | R197.00 | R285.50 | R154.50 | R66.00 |
Estimated petrol cost
| Car | Johannesburg to Cape Town | Johannesburg to Durban | Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth | Johannesburg to Kruger National Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Fortuner | R1 706.88 | R670.56 | R1 280.00 | R487.68 |
| Ford Ranger | R1 631.70 | R641.03 | R1 223.77 | R466.20 |
| Volkswagen Polo Vivo | R1 619.00 | R636.08 | R1 214.33 | R462.60 |
| Toyota Corolla Quest | R1 988.42 | R781.17 | R1 491.32 | R568.12 |
| BMW 318i | R1 789.62 | R703.07 | R1 342.22 | R511.32 |
Total estimated cost
| Car | Johannesburg to Cape Town | Johannesburg to Durban | Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth | Johannesburg to Kruger National Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Fortuner | R1 903.88 | R956.06 | R1 434.50 | R553.68 |
| Ford Ranger | R1 828.70 | R926.53 | R1 378.27 | R532.2 |
| Volkswagen Polo Vivo | R1 816,00 | R921.58 | R1 368.83 | R528.60 |
| Toyota Corolla Quest | R2 185.42 | R1 066.67 | R1 645.82 | R634.12 |
| BMW 318i | R1 986.62 | R988.57 | R1 496.72 | R577.32 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huguenot | R42.50 | R118.00 | R185.00 | R300.00 |
| Verkeerdevlei | R61.50 | R123.00 | R185.00 | R260.00 |
| Vaal | R71.50 | R135.00 | R162.00 | R216.00 |
| Grasmere | R21.50 | R64.00 | R75.00 | R99.00 |
| Total Cost | R197.00 | R440.00 | R607.00 | R875.00 |
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Durban
| Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gosforth | R13.50 | R36 | R39.00 | R54.00 |
| De Hoek | R53.00 | R82.00 | R125.00 | R180.00 |
| Wilge | R73.00 | R126.00 | R169.00 | R239.00 |
| Tugela | R78.00 | R129.00 | R204.00 | R282.00 |
| Mooi | R55.00 | R134.00 | R188.00 | R255.00 |
| Marianhill | R13.00 | R23.00 | R29.00 | R45.00 |
| Total Cost | R285.50 | R530.00 | R754.00 | R1 055.00 |
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Port Elizabeth
| Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verkeerdevlei | R61.50 | R123.00 | R185.00 | R260.00 |
| Vaal | R71.50 | R135.00 | R162.00 | R216.00 |
| Grasmere | R21.50 | R64.00 | R75.00 | R99.00 |
| Total Cost | R154.50 | R322 | R422 | R575 |
Johannesburg/Pretoria to Kruger National Park/Maputo
| Class 1 | Class 2 | Class 3 | Class 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middelburg | R66.00 | R144.00 | R218.00 | R287.00 |
| Total Cost | R66.00 | R144.00 | R218.00 | R287.00 |
*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.
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