overnighting in JNB
 

Overnighting at the intercontinental at the airport, next flight leaves at 14:30 the next morning.
Reckon this hotel is good? what should I do the next morning?
Or should I stay in Sandton? - advice please?
if in sandton, do I cab it there or rental car?

I am not sure if it's worth heading to Sandton but you could consider either renting a car/organizing a driver and heading off to the Apartheid Museum for a couple of hours before you fly out. Well worth visiting and an easy drive from the airport.

IC at the airport is nice and bellman will take your bags to airport check-in but otherwise quite boring for a longer stay. Sandton has some fun shopping and restaurants and is fairly safe. You don't want to rent a car unless you know what driving in South Africa is like (such as what areas to avoid and if you happen to drive there accidentally, don't stop at red lights). In any case no need for a car in Sandton, everything you can do in a day stay is within walking distance. Of course Sandton is a completely artificial environment too, and you barely know you are in South Africa (more like Italy from the architecture), so staying at the airport is not a bad option if you can entertain yourself in your room.

Given the horrendous traffic that one can encounter between Sandton and JNB, I'd just stick with the airport hotel if I were you. It would add at least an hour each way to your travel time to get to/from Sandton, which pretty much negates the (very limited) upside of going to Sandton in the first place. The only benefit to staying in Sandton is the opportunity to eat in a better restaurant for dinner and walk around a big shopping mall for a few hours. Not really worth the cost and time involved in getting there, IMO.

The suggestion of a short visit to the Apartheid Museum is a good one.

I was in Joburg just last week and spent one night in the IC at the airport. Very nice property and dinner in Quills was very good. Spent another night in Sandton. I can't remember the exact cab fare to get there. If you're staying at the IC I wouldn't bother heading out to Sandton the next morning. If you would rather stay in Sandton I would recommend staying at the Sandton Sun which connects to a large shopping complex and Mandela Square.

If you hit traffic at the wrong time you'll wish you never left the airport.

thank you all
airport hotel it is

Good plan. You will be happy with this hotel. If you are not already an IC Ambassador, it may be worth it to you to sign up. You will get an upgrade, free movie, etc. And you will get a free weekend night certificate. It costs something like $150, but well worth it.

See the IHG forum for more.

Remember that you can take the Gautrain to Sandton now. However, if you're traveling during the World Cup, getting any hotel is good enough.