Why petrol isn’t R14 per litre in South Africa

South Africa has made no progress on its promise to review the fuel price formula to find ways to reduce prices at the pump.

Roughly one and a half years ago, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe issued a statement claiming that petrol and diesel should cost no more than R14 per litre.

In October 2024, Mantashe announced that the government would review the fuel price formula as part of an effort to find ways to alleviate the financial burden households are facing as a result of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

“The price of fuel is part of the cost of living. When the fuel price increases, the cost of living in South Africa also rises. This is not good for society,” Mantashe previously said.

“The state must intervene to bring energy prices down in the interest of the South African community.” 

Despite these promises, petrol costs R19.99 per litre as of February 2026, while the wholesale price of diesel is currently sitting at R17.95 per litre.

These rates actually represent a four-year low for petrol prices in South Africa, but this is the result of external factors like the lower international oil price and an improved US dollar/rand exchange rate.

In contrast, the government’s stated attempts to review fuel price calculations to ease cost-of-living pressures have resulted in no meaningful changes.

The claim that petrol should cost approximately R14 per litre stems from the fact that South Africa’s retail fuel prices are greatly inflated by various taxes and levies.

These taxes have rapidly increased over the last 20 years, with the two largest contributors – the General Fuel Levy (GFL) and the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Levy – now adding R4.01 per litre and R2.18 per litre, respectively.

If all of South Africa’s taxes and levies were removed, the retail price of petrol and diesel would drop below R14 per litre.

This prompted calls to review the nation’s fuel price calculations to slash the various taxes and reduce costs for consumers.

Mantashe acknowledged this while speaking at the African Oil Week Conference in Cape Town in 2024, stating that the GFL and RAF Levy had distorted fuel prices to over R20 per litre.

“In the fuel price, there is the general fuel levy, there is the Road Accident Fund, linked to the price of fuel. So, instead of buying a litre of fuel for R14, you buy it for R20,” Mantashe said.

“Our argument is: you are distorting the price of fuel. Let’s find the formula for separating these two things and have the price of fuel visible.”

He then claimed that the government planned to conclude this discussion “in the shortest possible time.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed similar concerns over the need to reduce fuel prices in South Africa.

In his opening address to parliament in July 2024, Ramaphosa said that the government  would undertake a comprehensive review of administrative prices, including the fuel price formula.

“This we did for a while when prices of fuel just kept on rising. We were able to find a way in which we could stabilise the price,” he said.

It’s worth noting that South Africa did introduce temporary fuel price relief measures in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, slashing the GFL until August 2022.

Breaking down South Africa’s fuel price

The retail price of petrol can be broken down into two key components – the Basic Fuel Price (BFP), and the various taxes and levies imposed on the sale of fuel.

The BFP is calculated according to the international oil price and the rand/US dollar exchange rate, as this accounts for the cost of purchasing and importing oil to South Africa.

Fuel prices have inevitably gone up over due to rising oil prices and a weakening rand, but this alone does not explain why petrol and diesel have gone up so much in recent years.

Oil prices only increased by 13.6% over the last five years, while the rand’s value dropped by 9.75% against to the dollar.

The real reason why fuel prices have escalated so quickly can be traced to taxes and levies that have been raised several times.

Following the latest adjustments in 2025, motorists pay R6.37 in tax for every litre of petrol 93, and R6.24 in tax for every litre of diesel.

A major criticism of this system is that it is a lucrative revenue stream for the state, which disincentives any attempts to reduce levies to benefit consumers.

Most notably, the GFL brings in approximately R100 billion per year, making it one of the largest revenue streams alongside VAT, and personal and corporate income tax.

The following table shows each of the taxes and levies imposed on every litre of fuel sold in South Africa.