How much it costs to drive from Johannesburg to Durban – Petrol and Tolls

As lockdown restrictions wind down, more people are going on weekend getaways.

It might sound easy and straightforward to jump in a car and drive to your favourite destination, but it has more costs involved than what meets the eye.

For example, nationwide toll and e-toll prices have just been raised – along with an expected increase in petrol prices on the horizon.

This comes after a 2020 rise in toll prices, and petrol prices creeping up in recent months.

To see how much you should budget, we planned a hypothetical trip below.

The route

A popular route for South African holiday-goers is the one between Johannesburg and Durban – which is about 570km long.

The drive includes five toll gates, and the Gauteng province sees four additional e-tolls as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).

In total, you will drive through 10 toll gates and eight e-tolls on your way to and from Durban.

The car

For our vehicle, we chose the VW Polo Vivo 1.4 Trendline – the best-selling passenger vehicle in South Africa in 2020, according to the NAAMSA report.

It has a 1.4-litre petrol engine that produces 55kW, and it achieves a claimed combined fuel consumption of 5.7l/100km.

Using this figure, we use 32.49 litres of petrol one way – and roughly 65 litres of petrol for the whole trip.

The fees

The 2021 updated toll gate fees for the JHB-DUR route are as follows:

• De Hoek – R53.00
• Wilge – R73.00
• Tugela – R78.00
• Mooi – R55.00
• Marianhill – R13.00

The GFIP e-toll fees between Buccleuch interchange and the Gauteng border are as follows:

• One-way – R11.49
• Return trip – R22.98

Inland petrol prices as stated on the Automobile Association website on 3 February 2021 were:

• Petrol Unleaded 93 – R15.50 per litre
• Petrol Unleaded 95 – R15.67 per litre
• Petrol LRP – R15.50 per litre
• Diesel 500ppm – R13.58 per litre
• Diesel 50ppm – R13.62 per litre

The price

Now that we have our fees, route, and Polo Vivo, it is time to work out how much our holiday drive is going to cost us.

On our way to Durban, the toll-gates will cost R272.00 one-way – with e-tolls coming in at R11.49.

This brings the overall toll-gate costs on a return trip to R567.00.

The next concern is petrol.

Using Unleaded 95 petrol at R15.67 per litre, the 1,140km trip costs us R1,018.

The total for the return trip then equals R1,585.