News / 2 March 2026 / Michael Taylor

Official petrol price increases for March announced

The price of fuel is going up this month, particularly for diesel users.

The Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has published the official fuel price adjustments for March 2026, which will take effect this Wednesday.

Unfortunately, the international price of oil escalated last month as a result of geopolitical unrest in the Middle East, caused by the tension between the United States, Israel, and Iran.

This came to a head this past weekend when the US and Israel launched attacks into Iran, plunging the region into conflict.

The result is that oil prices skyrocketed from below $60 per barrel to over $80 per barrel this February.

While the rand showed resilience in the face of this global upset, it was not enough to offset the higher oil price.

Consequently, the price of both petrol and diesel will increase later this week.

The rand appreciated against the US dollar during the period under review with an average exchange rate of R15.99 in February, compared to R16.30 in January.

This led to a lower contribution to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol and diesel by 16.959 c/l and 19.200 c/l, respectively.

In line with the provisions of the Self-Adjusting Slate Levy Mechanism, the Slate Levy on petrol and diesel will remain at 0.00 c/l with effect from 4 March 2026.

What you’re paying this March

The new fuel price adjustments will take effect later this week on Wednesday, 4 March 2026.

Petrol users will see an increase of 20c per litre for both 93 and 95 octane, while diesel will receive a more substantial hike of between 62c and 65c per litre.

This is considerably more than the previous estimates provided by the Central Energy Fund, which pegged the petrol and diesel hikes at 3c and 46c per litre, respectively.

This latest increase means the cost of petrol 93 has once again climbed past R20 per litre, marking the end of a short-lived streak for low petrol prices.

These are the official adjustments: