Cost of Moving from Johannesburg to Cape Town

Vetted moving companies service trusted by thousands of customers. Fixed Prices. Quick and Easy

9.4 · 7,542 reviews

What are you moving?

• 

  — purchase pickup from junkmail.co.za
• 

  — purchase pickup from gumtree.co.za
• Item

  — furniture, electronic, antique, box etc.
  • — Furniture

    sofa, table, bed, bookcase, chest, drawer etc.
  • — Item

    packed item, electronic, bicycle, box etc.
• Move

  — home move, office move
  • — Home
  • — Office
  • — Storage
• Vehicle

  — car, motorcycle, RV, truck and other motor vehicles
  • — Car

    sedan, minivan, 4x4, pickup, sports car, coupe etc.
  • — Motorcycle

    chopper, superbike, moped, scooter etc.
  • — Other vehicle

    truck, bus, RV, tractor and other motor vehicles and etc.
• Boat

  — powerboat, sailboat, houseboat, jet ski, watercraft etc.
• Piano

  — grand piano, upright piano, digital piano etc.
• Animal

  — pet, livestock
  • — Pet

    cat, dog, bird, horse, etc
  • — Livestock

    sheep, cattle, deer. etc
• Junk

  — junk clearance, rubbish removal etc.
• Other

  — construction material etc.

Get Prices

In the heat of December beachfront traffic, when a finger-wagging showdown erupts between a local ‘CA’ and a visiting ‘GP’, then ‘hate-hate’ seems more accurate. But when it comes to deciding where to live, Joburg residents have been showing Cape Town some pure love in recent years.

How many people are moving from Johannesburg to Cape Town

In 2023-2024, some 3500 Joburg-based homeowners sold up and moved to Cape Town—that’s nearly 10 moves a day.

And that excludes all the renting migrants not captured in a report compiled by Lightstone. By contrast, only about 1600 Cape homeowners packed up and headed in the other direction.

What to expect

The move down to Cape Town is a long haul physically—1400km of steaming tar through the Karoo. But it also involves bridging some other intangible gaps between the cities when it comes to lifestyle, climate and culture.

And if you’re a Cape-bound Joburger, don’t expect to feel that love is all around down there. The wind, the traffic, the rain and the apparent stand-offishness of many Capetonians may never float your boat. No city is perfect, after all.

When you make the decision to move to Cape Town

What you don’t want to do is get the practical stuff wrong. You want to minimise stress, risk and expense—and land on your feet, so you can start adapting in the right frame of mind.

So read on for a Joburger’s guide to the big Cape Town move—featuring the telling facts, the cost ranges, and the best course of action to take.

The long and the short: some facts to know

The distance of the move is 1398km, straight down the N1 South via Bloemfontein. This is by far the most popular route to take.

The alternative route via Kimberley and the northern Karoo may spare you toll fees, but the extra mileage will raise your petrol bill more than the toll saving.

In fact, it’s estimated that fuel makes up 30% of your move cost—so save where you can.

1. The trip takes a passenger vehicle between 14 and 16 hours, but your removal truck will take longer.

2. Your move could cost anywhere between R6000 (for a simple one-bedroom move) and R36000 (for a 4+ bedroom move including bulky or fragile furniture).

3. Moving on the weekend is pricier than on weekdays, thanks to stronger demand. Midweek moves are typically the cheapest option.

4. A high-season move—in December or January, when families typically relocate—will likely be pricier.

What else will affect the cost?

The cost of your move will vary with the size, weight and fragility of your furniture. Filling out a detailed online inventory form can give you an accurate number to start.

Here are the average JHB-CT costs for 2024

The most important thing to remember is that your budget matters. You may be moving for a new work opportunity, or to be closer to family. So, finding a price that suits your budget is key.

Cost increases that can affect your moving quote from JHB to CPT

• If your moving service will need to take a longer route to Cape Town than the N1, for whatever reason, the cost will rise accordingly.

• If you want your goods to be packed by the moving service at your current property, that will increase the bill—as will adding insurance, or any storage service you may need during the journey from one home to the next.

• If it’s a big and complex move, you may need more than one or two movers to load and unload—this will also add some bucks to your bill.

Savings tip: don’t be a ‘too-early’ bird!

Another thing to bear in mind is the 'optimal date' to book a move. The conventional wisdom was always that it was best to book your move as early as possible.

But these days, that’s no longer true—thanks to some healthy competition between movers who want their trucks fully loaded.

The advice from Wise Move is that if you book 3 to 4 weeks before your move date, you have the best chance of being offered a great deal — whether due to sharing a load with another client or by taking up an empty “backload” (a Cape-based truck’s return journey from Joburg.)

• If you’re flexible on the delivery date, movers can add you as an empty backload—decreasing your overall quote.

• You'll also reduce your moving quote if you’re willing to share. Shared loads offer significantly better rates than a dedicated load, but may take longer.

What kind of move works for you?

There are four basic service options for your move

1. In the full-service option, the moving company does all the packing and inventory-keeping, supplies the insurance, plus the move itself.
2. A dedicated load option means you don’t have to share the truck with another client, which means you are the king customer, with fewer timing variables.
3. With the cheaper shared-load option, you save money in exchange for possible timing variability.
4. And lastly, if you’re lucky, you can get a dedicated empty backload. That means the truck is returning home and it’s either your load or no load.

These are the pros and cons of each option…

How to get online moving quotes

Needless to say, the earth won’t move for you. Your belongings (furniture, cars, and even your pets) have to somehow find a way down to the Cape. 

If you’re over the DIY route and looking for a stress-free solution, you could have everything transported while you grab the next FlySafair flight.

Here’s what you do to book your move

1. Go to Wise Move and submit your moving request. You will need to enter details such as your pick-up and delivery addresses, the move date, and the inventory list.  And, you can make different requests for your household items, vehicles and pets.

2. Compare quotes: you will receive a range of quotes from approved, trusted carriers.

3. Pick a winner! Your decision will be guided by price, by reviews uploaded to the Wise Move platform, and by the services offered.

4. Confirm your mover. Pay the deposit (if necessary) to your chosen moving service.

5. Communicate with your movers directly to finalise the details and tweak the options if and when your plans change.

Why Wise Move?

Hiring movers is scary—or at least it USED to be. It was hard to know for sure which companies were dependable custodians of your worldly possessions—and whether the prices you were being offered were competitive when so many smaller rival movers were out there.

With Wise Move, all that doubt and confusion is removed—because you can compare multiple quotes by a range of respected movers, all in one place, with the power of full transparency and like-for-like variables.

Moving across the country is stressful enough in itself. There’s no way to get around that. But the Wise Move platform makes the process of choosing your moving service quick, painless and accurate.

It vastly reduces the risk of a bad experience. And that could help make your new life in the Cape a very good experience.

Cost of Moving from Johannesburg to Cape Town

Vetted moving companies service trusted by thousands of customers. Fixed Prices. Quick and Easy

9.4 · 7,542 reviews

What are you moving?

• 

  — purchase pickup from junkmail.co.za
• 

  — purchase pickup from gumtree.co.za
• Item

  — furniture, electronic, antique, box etc.
  • — Furniture

    sofa, table, bed, bookcase, chest, drawer etc.
  • — Item

    packed item, electronic, bicycle, box etc.
• Move

  — home move, office move
  • — Home
  • — Office
  • — Storage
• Vehicle

  — car, motorcycle, RV, truck and other motor vehicles
  • — Car

    sedan, minivan, 4x4, pickup, sports car, coupe etc.
  • — Motorcycle

    chopper, superbike, moped, scooter etc.
  • — Other vehicle

    truck, bus, RV, tractor and other motor vehicles and etc.
• Boat

  — powerboat, sailboat, houseboat, jet ski, watercraft etc.
• Piano

  — grand piano, upright piano, digital piano etc.
• Animal

  — pet, livestock
  • — Pet

    cat, dog, bird, horse, etc
  • — Livestock

    sheep, cattle, deer. etc
• Junk

  — junk clearance, rubbish removal etc.
• Other

  — construction material etc.

Get Prices