Car Rental South Africa / Car Hire South Africa / Rent  Arvostelua 

I had a terrible experience with SANI Sixt South Africa — easily one of the worst car rental experiences I’ve ever had. We rented a vehicle for a month, planning to drive both on highways and light off-road routes. The car was nearly new, which at first seemed great — until it became clear that was actually a liability.

After returning the car, we were charged for small surface scratches on the rims of the tires, which is absurd given the driving conditions in South Africa, where minor scratches from gravel and rocks are unavoidable. It felt like they were just looking for any excuse to bill extra.

What made things worse is that they kept our deposit without justification and later charged additional fees without prior notice. When I followed up — even referencing a police report we had filed for a separate incident and handed directly to them — they claimed they never received it. Months later, no transparency, no accountability, just unhelpful and dismissive responses.

In my opinion, this branch operates in an untrustworthy and unprofessional manner. I would strongly recommend avoiding SANI Sixt South Africa and choosing another rental company if you value honesty and reliability.

⚠️ Avoid Sani Sixt Car Rentals – Serious Deposit & Fraud Concerns

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. I strongly urge anyone considering Sani Sixt in South Africa to read online reviews before proceeding. There are numerous reports-mine included-of issues with deposit refunds and even potential credit card fraud.

🚩 Red Flag #1: Unsafe Credit Card Practices

Before my rental could be confirmed, I was asked to email a photo of my ID along with photocopies of the front and back of my credit card-a highly questionable request from both a data protection and fraud prevention standpoint. I complied only because I urgently needed a car, and I emailed the information to an individual named Irfaan Muhammad Hanif.

🚩 Red Flag #2: Deposit Taken as Payment

A 14,000 ZAR deposit (high because I am an international customer), plus the rental fee, was charged to my credit card (by a man named Khaya Duma) as an actual payment, NOT held as a standard pre-authorisation- in direct contradiction to their stated policy. Khaya’s attitude was also notably poor.

🚩 Red Flag #3: Fraud Attempt Shortly After

Within a week, my bank flagged an attempted online shopping transaction using my card-which they blocked as suspected fraud. Given the timing and other online reviews mentioning similar incidents, I find this deeply suspicious. Simply Google the company name along with “fraud” and you'll find other similar stories.

🚩 Red Flag #4: Late Deposit Refund

I received an email on December 5th, 2026 confirming my deposit would be released within 14 business days. In reality, the deposit only returned to my account on December 31st, so19 business days later.

That's five business days overdue, and it only happened after repeated emails and phone calls, during which I was told casually “Oops, we forgot.” This delay violates their own refund policy and, again, is part of a pattern reported by many other customers (just search the company name plus “deposit”).

Also, because the deposit had been taken as a full payment rather than a hold, I also incurred interest charges on my credit card during the delay-something that wouldn’t have happened with a proper pre-authorisation.

✅ The ONLY Positive: The Car and Green Point staff

The vehicle itself was fine. It drove well and I returned it with no issues to the Cape Town Green Point branch, where the staff were polite and professional- the only good part of the experience.

Final Word:

This company appears to operate with disregard for customer security, transparency, and professionalism. The combination of unsafe card practices, poor communication, delayed refunds, and suspicious activity should serve as a serious warning to others. I think a lot of the reviews are misguiding - at the desk at George I was asked to leave a good review for the staff member who served me, and I can see many of the five star reviews look like they were requested this way.

Use a more reputable provider. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

At the Centurion branch of SANI SIXT, I rented the Toyota Corolla Cross, which is supposed to be full of gas when I collected it; however, the next day, I noticed that about 7 liters were missing from the tank. I have driven 222 km to the petrol station, where I refilled the tank with 22.69 liters of petrol. With an average fuel consumption of 7 L, it leaves us with about 7 L missing from the tank.

When I returned the car, I was treated very unfriendly by the staff. The guard at the boom gate requested to see my driver's license. I was handing it to him, he was saying " not that one, the other one pointing to the 100 EUROS note sticking out from my purse.

When I checked in and parked the car in front of the office, no one came to me to process the check-in. I had to go and look for someone to do it. The man, at the inspection, was rather indecent. He asked for the car keys, started taking photos, then asked me to sit back again and reverse the car. I asked what the reason was that I should, but he did not answer, just kept taking the photos. Then I saw he had no space to take a photo from the front. He was rude.

Now, I can do it for him, that is fine, but isn't it his job? Where is the service? The most important thing for him after I signed was to scan the QR code for a Five-Star SANI Google review. What star would you give it? Prior, I gave good reviews on Google - but not now!

When I followed up on the final invoice and the deposit hold release, the manager noted that 3,74 L is missing from the fuel tank. I have refueled the tank before check-in. The garage was about 20km from the Sani branch. It should be about 1,4 L less than the full tank, not more.

10 liters of petrol are still missing. Where should it be? We are not just talking about the R200 value, but the treatment. I emailed a complaint, which has not been answered.

A recurring customer gets shortened and is treated unfairly. I have been renting vehicles from SANI for over R100 000 lately. I doubt if I will ever, if it is not going to get handled.

Car was fine but Sani make it very difficult to get the deposit back if you don't have a south african bank account. They don't just preauth the money on your credit card, they take a full payment and then don't respond to refund requests - no excess was due on the returned vehicle.

A month after returning a rental car to Sixt Sani in Johannesburg, my wife and I have still not received:
- the official rental invoice,
- the refund of our deposit, or
- any proper documentation regarding alleged damages.

When we returned the car, the receiving agent was extremely rude and accusatory, claiming we had scratched the car — which was completely untrue. We have clear, time-stamped photos from both the start and end of the rental proving there was no damage whatsoever.

Since returning the car, we’ve received no correspondence, no explanation, and no refund. After I finally contacted them, they sent only a “damages invoice” — a document that didn’t even describe any damage, just a receipt showing they had deducted money from our deposit. No remarks, no damage report, no proof.

At this point, it feels like they’ve simply stolen nearly €500.
I’ve now filed an official claim against the wrongful charges, supported by photographic evidence of the undamaged vehicle.

I strongly urge everyone not to rent from this branch. Their behaviour is dishonest, rude, and deceptive, and — as other reviews confirm — this seems to be a recurring pattern at this location.

I rented a car from this company in December 2024 while visiting South Africa. I provided my card details to complete the payment at their office. The initial charge was correct, but 10 months later, my bank blocked a suspicious transaction attempt from the same company. Despite cancelling my card and getting a new one, I recently discovered another unauthorized withdrawal linked to them- 11 months later.
After checking online, I found multiple similar complaints from other customers on Face book about unexplained or repeated charges. Unfortunately, the company has not publicly addressed these concerns or offered clear explanations.
I urge anyone considering this rental agency to be extremely cautious with their payment information, or preferably use another reliable rental office. And I strongly encourage the company to investigate these reports and improve its data security practices.