Johannesburg nightlife is spread across separate pockets rather than one centre, and the clock changes from district to district. The legal minimum age for alcohol is 18, Melville bars list closing times of 02:00, and the club rooms on Gwigwi Mrwebi Street in Newtown run well past that: And Club lists Thursday to Saturday from 21:00 to 04:00, and its Friday TOYTOY night is listed from 21:00 to 06:00. Time Out ranked Johannesburg seventh in its 2026 global nightlife ranking, the highest African city on the list, with an affordability score of 66 percent. Newtown has the techno and house rooms (And Club, Carfax, Club A.M. and Bad Manors), Melville has Ratz, Six Cocktail Bar and Smoking Kills, Rosebank has A Streetbar Named Desire, Braamfontein has Jozi Gold Brewing Company, Sandton has OKIO, Booth and the Alto234 sky bar, and Truth sits in Midrand. The Gautrain stops running at about 21:30, so the ride home is a ride-hailing car. Worth knowing: the UK government advises against walking around after dark, so plan the ride in and the ride out before you leave.
Ranked by popularity. Tap a card for opening hours, door tips, getting there and tickets.
For the drinks before and after. Hours, prices and the best nights are on each page.
Newtown is the late-night centre. Four venues share Gwigwi Mrwebi Street, Club A.M., AND Club, Bad Manors and Carfax, and Time Out calls the area one of the city's last true nightlife precincts. Carfax, a warehouse venue open since 1995, anchors it. The clubs charge an entrance fee, stamp the wrist, and play deep house, techno, Afro-house, gqom and drum and bass. Time Out describes the busiest hours as roughly 02:00 to 07:00, and groups are still in the car park around 08:00 before breakfast in Jeppestown.
Melville is the bar crawl. Ratz, Six Cocktail Bar and Good Omens are on 7th Street, Smoking Kills is on 4th Avenue and Great Dane is on Main Road. In Your Pocket describes a district recovering since the 2020 lockdowns, driven by students and creatives, cheaper and less formal than most areas, with local businesses funding patrollers through the Community Policing Forum.
Sandton and Rosebank are the dressier end. The 24 Central complex in Sandown holds OKIO, Liv, Monarch and The Greenhouse, where In Your Pocket says OKIO access is tiered and guests book a table or VIP suite. Booth sits in Parkmore, and the Alto234 bar is on the 57th floor of The Leonardo. In Rosebank, A Streetbar Named Desire sits on Jan Smuts Avenue.
Distances are long. Truth is in Midrand rather than the inner city, so most visitors choose one district per night and book a ride between them.
And Club ranked 98th in DJ Mag's Top 100 Clubs poll in 2024 and lists a Void rig indoors, Truth has hosted Paul van Dyk and Richie Hawtin, and Carfax shares its building with And Club.
Club A.M. runs promoter-led nights such as UMGQIBELO, described on Techno Airlines as gqom and alternative dance music, starting at 22:00.
Booth in Parkmore lists amapiano, R&B and Afrobeats with VIP booths and bottle service, and OKIO books house, Afro house, R&B and hip-hop.
Ratz describes itself as proudly queer-forward, Great Dane is welcoming to the queer community, and Smoking Kills hosts Heaven, a drag and DJ night.
Smoking Kills has a craft rum list, Six Cocktail Bar serves dozens of cocktails with 2-for-1 deals until 19:00, and Jozi Gold Brewing Company in Braamfontein brews its own lagers and ales.
Alto234 sells timed sessions on the 57th floor of The Leonardo, with a sunset session from 16:00 to 19:00.
Not for you if you want to walk between venues after dark or rely on public transport. The UK government advises against walking around after dark, and the Gautrain stops at about 21:30.
Six Cocktail Bar opens, with 2-for-1 cocktails until 19:00.
A Streetbar Named Desire opens from Monday to Thursday and Good Omens from Tuesday to Thursday; Alto234 runs its sunset session from 16:00 to 19:00.
Smoking Kills opens from Wednesday to Sunday. Time Out says Friday groups start around 17:00 at Six or A Streetbar Named Desire.
Truth opens on Friday and Saturday evenings, on its June 2026 listing.
Doors open at And Club on its listed nights and at OKIO on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Club A.M. nights such as UMGQIBELO start, and Booth opens from Monday to Saturday. Time Out has the crowd moving to Ratz or Gwigwi Mrwebi Street around this time.
Ratz's R20 tequila happy hour runs from 23:00 to 00:00.
Melville bars close and the Newtown clubs fill up.
OKIO, Booth and And Club close on their listed hours, while TOYTOY is listed to 06:00.
Time Out has groups still in the Newtown car park, heading for breakfast at Kwa Mai Mai in Jeppestown.
Tim Engelhardt, Huxley, FiNE and Seigg play from 20:00 on Saturday 31 October to 04:00, with tickets at R250 to R300.
The Swiss label Mystika presents a light, visual and sound night from 16:00 to 04:00, with tickets from R450 up to R4,000.
The club's anniversary runs from 14:00 to 04:00 and tickets are R150.
Eleven acts across four floors at Truth, from 16:00 to 04:00, at R350 to R4,000.
The weekly night is listed from 21:00 to 06:00 at R100 to R150 for 9, 16 and 23 October 2026.
Booth runs its B.O.A.T night on Tuesdays, according to In Your Pocket.
Carfax, AND Club, Club A.M. and Bad Manors are all at 39 Gwigwi Mrwebi Street, a cobbled street that closes for festivals. Time Out mentions Uber for getting both in and out.
Ratz at 9 7th Street, Six Cocktail Bar at 5 7th Street and Good Omens at 4 7th Street (opened February 2026) share the strip. Smoking Kills is at 78 4th Avenue and Great Dane at 8 Main Road.
A Streetbar Named Desire is at 144 Jan Smuts Avenue, near Rosebank Gautrain station. Time Out also lists Obscura Bar and Sin+Tax here, and Katzy's at 19 Biermann Avenue has jazz on selected evenings.
Jozi Gold Brewing Company is at 81 De Korte Street, and In Your Pocket also lists Kitchener's Bar, Untitled Basement and Hugh's on the 13th floor at 10 De Beer Street.
Time Out lists The Living Room in Maboneng as open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays. The Twenty Twenty Club rooftop at Hallmark House, 54 Siemert Road, lists hours to 22:00. The Marabi Club jazz bar in the same building closed on 10 May 2025.
OKIO, Liv, Monarch and The Greenhouse are in the 24 Central complex on Gwen Lane and Fredman Drive, Booth is at 130 11th Street in Parkmore, and Alto234 is at 75 Maude Street.
Truth is at Old Pretoria Road in Halfway House, in Midrand, with five dance floors.
Carry an ID document, passport or driver's licence, since staff may ask anyone who looks under 18. The Newtown clubs charge an entrance fee and stamp the wrist, and And Club enforces a strict phone policy: "Phone off. Party on." In Your Pocket says OKIO access is tiered, with tables and VIP suites sold with bottle service, and a June 2026 listing describes a controlled door policy at Booth. Alto234 is listed as smart casual by The Rooftop Guide, which is undated.
And Club's Friday TOYTOY was R100 to R150, Club A.M.'s UMGQIBELO was R80 and R140, and Truth's Halloween night is R250 to R300. Bars list no cover. User-reported prices on Numbeo (updated 20 October 2026) show R40 for a draught beer and R45 for an imported bottle, and Ratz sells tequila at R20 from 23:00 to 00:00.
Book Uber or Bolt through the app and wait inside the venue until the car arrives. The UK government advises checking the registration and driver ID, and avoiding walking to or from Gautrain stations after dark.
| Draught beer (Numbeo, user-reported, 20 October 2026) | R40 |
| Imported beer, small bottle (Numbeo) | R45 |
| Ratz tequila happy hour, 23:00 to 00:00 (In Your Pocket) | R20 |
| Club A.M., UMGQIBELO, 3 October 2026 (Techno Airlines, Quicket) | R80 – R140 |
| And Club, TOYTOY, October 2026 (Resident Advisor listing) | R100 – R150 |
| And Club, Sub Sequence, 10 October 2026 | R150 – R250 |
| Truth, 27 Years of Truth, 28 November 2026 | R150 |
| Truth, Halloween, 31 October 2026 | R250 – R300 |
| Truth, Mystika, 14 November 2026 | R450 – R4,000 |
| Alto234 entrance with a glass of Moët (The Rooftop Guide, undated) | R390 |
The lowest TOYTOY price listed (R100). Drinks and the ride home are extra, and no fixed ride fare is published.
The lowest TOYTOY ticket plus two draught beers at the user-reported R40.
The lowest Mystika ticket at Truth, before drinks, any VIP upgrade and the ride home.
The UK government advises booking through the app, waiting in a place of safety and checking the registration and driver ID before getting in.
The UK government says not to walk around after dark and to avoid walking to or from Gautrain stations after dark. The US State Department puts South Africa at Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution, and says violent crime is more common in big-city downtown areas after dark.
The UK government reports drink spiking involving robbery and sexual assault, and advises being wary of strangers offering free drinks.
Listings disagree. In Your Pocket gives Bad Manors as Wednesday to Saturday 15:00 to 02:00, while a June 2026 listing shows different hours, and Carfax's own site was not reachable for this guide.
The door policy is "Phone off. Party on.", and Time Out describes a no-phones-or-cameras policy.
Truth sells tickets through its own site, and its listed prices run from R150 to R4,000 depending on the night.
Taboo, described by In Your Pocket as Joburg's first luxury nightclub, had closed by November 2024. The Marabi Club in Maboneng closed on 10 May 2025. The Orbit jazz club's Braamfontein site now houses Jozi Gold Brewing Company, which opened in March 2026. Great Dane left Braamfontein in 2023 and reopened in Melville in August 2025, and Smoking Kills closed in June 2025 and reopened on 31 October 2025.
Carfax opened in 1995, closed in 2013 and relaunched in early 2014 with better sound, keeping its graffiti-covered walls and the motto "conceptual by nature".
And Club began as a weekly techno party, TOY TOY, that needed a space and found one at Carfax. DJ Mag ranked it 98th in its 2024 Top 100 Clubs poll.
Truth dates from 1999, is billed as the Home of the Underground, and rebuilt its Terrace dance floor after a fire damaged part of the venue.
Time Out says Gwigwi Mrwebi Street is named after a South African jazz musician.
In Your Pocket describes Great Dane in Melville as a former Braamfontein student favourite with a floor covered in five-cent coins.
Time Out's 2026 ranking, based on a survey of more than 24,000 residents, put Johannesburg seventh, ahead of Amsterdam, Madrid, Seoul and Mexico City.
It depends on the venue. Melville bars list 02:00, OKIO and Booth list 04:00, And Club is listed to 04:00 and its TOYTOY night to 06:00, and Truth lists Saturdays to 06:00.
The legal minimum for alcohol is 18, and staff can ask anyone who looks under 18 for an ID document, passport or driver's licence. Some nights set a higher limit, such as the 21+ listed for Club A.M.'s Get Down on 16 December 2025.
Newtown for techno and house, Melville for bars, Sandton for lounges and Booth, Rosebank for cocktails, and Braamfontein for Jozi Gold Brewing Company. Truth is in Midrand.
The UK government says there is a high crime rate and advises against walking around after dark. The US State Department rates South Africa Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution. Most visitors book a ride-hailing car door to door and keep valuables out of sight.
Use Uber or Bolt through the app and wait inside until the car arrives. The Gautrain runs only from about 05:00 to 21:30, and the UK government rates minibus taxis as higher risk.
Expect R80 to R300 on a typical night: Club A.M.'s UMGQIBELO was R80 and R140, TOYTOY at And Club was R100 to R150, and Truth's Halloween night is R250 to R300. Bars list no cover.
Yes, in Newtown. Time Out describes Carfax as a late-night third place where the party can continue past closing time elsewhere, and the Newtown clubs are busiest from about 02:00 to 07:00.
See which clubs and bars are open right now, who is playing and where to get tickets. Live in four cities, with more on the way.
