There is a significant shortage of rental vehicles in South Africa and holidaymakers hoping to travel in December and January should book immediately if they have not already secured a vehicle. 

This is according to Drive South Africa, who conducted a survey amongst their suppliers about the status of their fleets, as tourists gear up for the holiday and demand rises.

Ellena van Tonder, Sales and Product Manager for Drive South Africa, says car-hire companies were forced to downscale their fleets in 2020 as rentals plummeted due to restrictions on travel locally, and with the complete halt of international visitors to South Africa.

“Demand has picked up considerably in recent months and the rental companies are working to replenish their fleets, but this will take time and we will not be able to keep up with demand,” she says.   

Van Tonder says the difficulty with supply is also compounded by the shorter lead times they are experiencing with bookings: “Due to COVID, people are reluctant to book far in advance because they don’t know if travel restrictions may be implemented or a new level of lockdown may be announced, so we find the lead times are much shorter than they used to be. This may lead to disappointment though, as we are already 99% booked for December and people looking for January rentals should be booking now.” 

The shortage extends to 4x4 and Campervan hire, where fleets were slashed as these categories are mostly used by international travellers. In December 2019 there were just under 1 200 4x4s available via Drive South Africa, but stock went down as low as 330 by December 2020. This number has now risen to 360 but is far from reaching the stock levels of 2019.