How much does palisade fencing cost in South Africa?

Pricing a 30 m street frontage with a sliding gate

Take a 30 m front boundary that needs a 4 m driveway gate and a 1 m pedestrian gate. That leaves 25 m of fence at about 1.8 m high.

• Fence: 25 m x R1,200 = R30,000 at the lowest published rate, up to 25 m x R2,450 = R61,250. Using the more common R1,800 floor, the low end is R45,000.
• Sliding gate, manual: R8,500 to R15,000.
• Pedestrian gate: R2,500 to R6,000.
• Optional spike-top upgrade: 25 m x R50 to R150 = R1,250 to R3,750.
• Total before automation: roughly R41,000 to R86,000, or about R56,000 to R86,000 if your area's contractors quote from R1,800 a metre.

D-section or W-section: what the pale profile does to the price

A D-section pale is a curved, lighter strip of steel. A W-section pale is folded twice, which makes it stiffer and much harder to bend open with a bar. Most W-section pales come with a triple-pointed top, and the folded shape uses more steel per pale.

That extra steel is why heavy-duty W-section in 2.5 mm to 3 mm steel is listed at 20% to 30% more than standard D-section. On a 25 m run at R1,800 a metre, that difference is roughly R9,000 to R13,500. Ask each contractor to name the profile and the steel thickness on the quote, or you could be comparing a 2 mm D-section price with a 3 mm W-section one.

On soil or on top of a wall

Free-standing palisade on soil needs every post set in a concrete footing, and that digging is a large share of the labour. One contractor list puts installation at 30% to 40% of the total job and prices 76 mm posts at R280 to R350 each.

Fixing a shorter palisade panel to the top of an existing wall avoids the footings, but the wall must be sound enough to take bolted or cast-in brackets. Where there is no wall, a 1.2 m brick half-wall topped with palisade is quoted in one 2026 guide at R1,800 to R3,000 a metre combined, which is more than palisade alone but gives a solid base and some privacy at ground level.

Gate choices and what they add

Gates often surprise people because a single sliding gate can cost as much as five to eight metres of fence. Supplier prices from one Gauteng manufacturer, before VAT and installation, show the spread:

• Pedestrian gate, 1.0 m to 1.2 m wide: from R3,250 at 1.8 m, R3,450 at 2.1 m.
• Double swing gate: from R6,400 for a 3 m opening and R8,400 for 4 m.
• Sliding gate with bottom track: from R10,300 for 3 m and R13,000 for 4 m; R14,000 at 2.1 m high.

Lines to look for on a palisade quote

• Pale profile (D or W section), steel thickness and spike style.
• Fence height and panel width, plus the number of posts and their size.
• Finish: standard anti-rust, hot-dip galvanised, or galvanised and powder-coated, with the colour.
• Footing depth and whether concrete, transport and rubble removal are included.
• Each gate listed separately with size, type, track and any motor.
• Whether prices include VAT; supplier lists are often quoted excluding VAT.