Polokwane

Polokwane (Place of Safety) is a city of 130,000 people (2011) in South Africa. It is the capital of the Limpopo Province. It is South Africa's largest urban centre north of Gauteng. It used to be known as Pietersburg.

By plane
The Polokwane International Airport is in the city and has multiple flights daily to and from Johannesburg. The main airline servicing the airport is South African Airways.

The airport is north of the city centre as is accessible via Landdros Mare Street (R101). There are multiple car rental agencies within the airport and this is generally the best way to get around town. There are metered cabs as well.

Just south of the city is the Gateway Airport, primarily a business and general aviation airport. It is also known as the Polokwane Civil Airport.



By car
Take the N1 highway north from Johannesburg through Pretoria and on. Have cash at hand for the toll gates. You also might need to stop at a fuel station to refill fuel on the way.

By train
The Shosholoza Meyl, South Africa’s intercity rail service, operates a daily service (except Saturday) between Johannesburg, Pretoria and Polokwane. The train station is near the city centre on the corner of Hospital and Silicon Streets.



By bus
Translux, Greyhound, SA Roadlink, City to City have buses to Johannesburg and the Zimbabwe border. The bus fare to Polokwane from Johannesburg with City to City is around R180. Tickets can be booked via Computicket.

There are also minibus taxis from Pretoria, Johannesburg, Mbombela and Musina. They are generally not considered to be safe.

Get around
Polokwane was a city built for the car and so public transport, as in most South African cities, is extremely limited. Construction has started on the Polokwane Integrated Rapid Public Transport System (IRPTS) but won't be complete or available to the public for quite some years still.