Car hire in Pretoria without a credit card

Why hire a car in Pretoria?

Pretoria, in the City of Tshwane, is the seat of South Africa's government, and its main sights lie in different parts of the city: the Union Buildings, the Voortrekker Monument and Freedom Park. Beyond the city, a Big Five reserve, a diamond mine and Hartbeespoort Dam are all within about 55 kilometres. A car connects them without depending on tours.

Collect your car at Wonderboom Airport, north of the city, or at a branch in Pretoria itself. O.R. Tambo International Airport is about 65 kilometres from Wonderboom and has its own pick-up point. For more destinations, see car hire in South Africa.

Exploring Pretoria by car

In the city

The gardens of the Union Buildings are open to the public and free; the building itself is not. A nine-metre bronze statue of Nelson Mandela has stood there since 16 December 2013. The Voortrekker Monument, inaugurated in 1949, is open every day except a few holidays, and tickets are cheaper online. Every year at noon on 16 December, a ray of sunlight falls on the cenotaph inside. Freedom Park, at the corner of Koch Street and 7th Avenue in Salvokop, is open daily and offers guided tours.

Day trips from Pretoria

Cullinan, a mining village east of the city founded in 1902, is about 40 kilometres from Wonderboom. The largest gem-quality diamond ever found, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, came from its mine in 1905, and you can tour the working mine above or below ground. Rietvlei Nature Reserve, about 4,000 hectares in the south of the city, has rhino, buffalo and cheetah, and a rich birdlife.

Dinokeng Game Reserve, about 45 kilometres from Wonderboom, is the only Big Five reserve in Gauteng and is free of malaria. You can drive its more than 140 kilometres of tracks yourself, most of them suitable for an ordinary car. You pay a daily conservation fee plus a one-off self-drive permit, and all gates are cashless. Hartbeespoort Dam, south of the Magaliesberg, is about 55 kilometres away, and the Pilanesberg National Park, next to Sun City, about 155.

Driving around Pretoria

South Africa drives on the left. Your own licence is valid if it is in English and has your photo and signature; if not, bring an International Driving Permit. The N1 north and the N4 east and west of Pretoria have toll plazas, such as Pumulani on the N1, Diamond Hill on the N4 towards Mpumalanga, and Doornpoort and Brits on the N4 west. You can pay in cash, by card or with a SANRAL tag.

Best time to hire a car in Pretoria

Pretoria is known as the Jacaranda City: around 65,000 jacaranda trees turn its streets purple from late September through October, sometimes into early November. Average highs are about 29°C in January and 20°C in June and July. Almost all the rain falls from October to March; in June and July the nights drop to about 5°C and it hardly rains.

The longest South African school holiday runs from mid-December to mid-January, with shorter breaks around Easter, from late June to mid-July and in late September.