Cape Town vs Joburg vs Durban vs Pretoria: Who pays most for their bills?

Numbeo has updated its information for expenses and bills in South Africa’s four biggest cities. On Friday, we decided to look at how much utilities cost in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, and Pretoria – to see who’s getting the better deal.

Cape Town vs Johannesburg vs Durban vs Pretoria – who pays most for their bills?

Monthly utilities, which are defined as the bills for Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Water, and Garbage Services, all top the four-figure mark when paid together. The ranges for pre-paid data and monthly internet costs are relatively narrow, and we’ve added in a ‘luxury expense’ of gym membership to highlight how these bills can secretly pile-up.

We’ve done recent features on rent and the cost of living in all four major cities, and this table focuses mainly on utilities. Numbeo has received thousands of user-generated contributions from local residents to relay the following information:

How much bills cost in each part of South Africa on average:

City	Estimated cost of utilities	Cost for one minute of pre-paid data	Monthly internet fees	Monthly gym fees
Cape Town	R1 191	R1.84	R921	R538
Johannesburg	R1 500	R1.82	R941	R513
Durban	R1 572	R1.95	R983	R415
Pretoria	R1 528	R1.82	R971	R556

Durban tops, Cape Town shocks

Durban, somewhat surprisingly, comes out on top as the costliest city for three of the four categories. Pretoria commands the most in gym fees, even though KZN’s biggest city has the highest rates when it comes to paying the bills. However, a gym-going citizen in Pretoria will have a more expensive month than a counter-part in Durban.

Irony has clearly died a death in this table. Despite Cape Town’s rental prices being notoriously high, the estimated cost of utilities in the Mother City is comfortably lower than anything provided by the opposition. The data from the user survey also suggests that CPT can offer the best deals on a monthly internet package.