What it costs to drive from Joburg to Cape Town this December

The December holidays have officially started, and many households are undoubtedly planning to use the time off to visit family or take a well-deserved break.

One of the most popular options is, of course, the trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town, and while many may choose to fly, others will drive for various reasons, from cost-savings to the convenience of having a car at their destination.

One thing that’s true regardless of your method of travel is that you will need to budget accordingly, as both flying and driving will cost a pretty penny this month.

Joburg to Cape Town

Using Sandton as a general starting point for anyone living in Gauteng, the journey to Cape Town’s city centre along the N1 highway will cover roughly 1,413km over the course of 15 hours.

The cost of petrol 95 is currently sitting at R21.41 per litre, following the latest fuel price adjustments that took effect on 3 December 2025.

Based on these factors, this is how much you can expect to spend on petrol to make the trip, depending on your car’s average fuel consumption:

Don’t forget that petrol is not the only expense on this journey, as we still need to factor in the toll plazas dotted along the route.

There are four toll booths on our chosen path, comprising 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 December 2025:

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

Altogether, the toll fees add R245 to our travel bill, or R490 for the two-way drive.

If we combine the fuel tab and the toll fees, we can see that it will cost anywhere from R1,765.11 to R3,263.81 to drive from the City of Gold to the Mother City this December.

Doubling these figures will then give us the cost for a return trip, which works out to between R3,530.22 and R6,527.62, depending on your car’s fuel efficiency.