What it costs to drive from Joburg to Cape Town at R22 per litre

Anyone planning to make the long drive from Johannesburg to Cape Town will need to budget anywhere from R3,662.28 to R6,789.88 to drive there and back.

The cost of flights is incredibly high at the moment, and so anyone who needs to travel between South Africa’s two biggest cities may be tempted to drive instead, but the reality is that it’ll be an expensive trek regardless of the transport method you use.

Joburg to Cape Town

Using Sandton as a general starting point, the journey to Cape Town’s city centre along the N1 highway will take approximately 15 hours over a distance of 1,413km.

Petrol 95, meanwhile, is currently retailing for R22.34 per litre, following the latest price adjustments that took place in March 2025.

As a result, this is how much you will need to spend on petrol to make it to Cape Town, based on your car’s average fuel efficiency.

Unfortunately, petrol is not the only cost we need to consider, as there are also four toll gates along the way.

This includes Grasmere in Gauteng, Vaal and Verkeerdevlei in the Free State, and the Huguenot Tunnel in the Western Cape.

These are the toll fees for each of the four toll gates as of March 2025:

• Grasmere – R27.00
• Vaal – R89.00
• Verkeerdevlei – R76.00
• Huguenot – R53.00

The total value for these plazas comes out to R245, which equates to R490 when we factor in a two-way trip.

If we combine the toll fees with that of fuel, we can determine that it costs anywhere from R1,831 to R3,395 to drive all the way from Joburg to the Mother City, depending on your average fuel consumption.

A return trip will therefore cost anywhere from R3,662 to R6,790, showing what a difference your vehicle’s fuel efficiency can make over a long journey.