Official petrol price decreases for August announced

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has announced the official fuel price adjustments for August 2026.

The good news is that South Africa will experience a petrol price cut after all, though it won’t be as much as previously anticipated.

The uncertainty surrounding fuel price adjustments is primarily due to the war in Iran, which flared up again in July.

At the start of the month, Brent Crude oil was trading at a low point of $68 per barrel, which skyrocketed to $92 per barrel when the United States launched new attacks against Iran.

The situation has since de-escalated, and oil prices have dropped to roughly $80 per barrel. While still higher than before the latest attacks, the improvement in oil prices happened in time to factor into South Africa’s official adjustments for August.

Month-end data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) reflected an upward trajectory for petrol prices, going from a R2.50-per-litre reduction to a flat recovery.

This negative outlook would likely have continued into this week, translating into petrol price hikes.

However, sentiment has improved after US President Donald Trump announced that the country would hold off new attacks, and that it would engage in talks with Iran today (Monday, 3 August 2026).

Because of this, petrol will now experience a small but appreciable over-recovery of 52c per litre for both fuel grades.

Diesel, on the other hand, will be hit with a hike of between R1.23 and R1.38 per litre. While unfortunate, this is less than the R1.91 increase reported by the CEF, showing how last-minute the improved oil price was.

These are the official fuel price adjustments for South Africa for August 2026:

• Petrol 93 – Decrease of R0.52 per litre
• Petrol 95 – Decrease of R0.52 per litre
• Diesel 0.05% (wholesale) – Increase of R1.38 per litre
• Diesel 0.005% (wholesale) – Increase of R1.23 per litre

In line with the provisions of the Self-Adjusting Slate Levy Mechanism, the slate levy has been reduced from 113.94c/l to 61.38c/l.

What you’re paying this August

The new fuel price adjustments will take effect on Wednesday, 5 August 2026.

The average Brent Crude oil price decreased from $86 to $82 per barrel during the period under review.

Similarly, the international product price for petroleum products fell during the same period. However, diesel prices increased due to a shortage caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine, with the former restricting diesel exports.

This led to a lower contribution to the Basic Fuel Price (BFP) of petrol by 6.08c/l. Diesel saw a higher contribution to the BFP of 182.62c/l.

Over the same period, the rand depreciated slightly against the US dollar, going from R16.34 to R16.46 per USD.

This led to a higher contribution to the BFP of petrol and diesel by 6.37c/l and 8.14c/l, respectively.

The table below indicates how the official fuel price adjustments for August will reflect at the pump: