What to expect from petrol prices in South Africa this Wednesday

South African motorists who need to fill up their tanks soon may want to wait a couple of days.

Figures from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) show that prices at the pumps are set for significant drops this coming Wednesday, 2 April, with petrol to fall by as much as 78c per litre and diesel by 93c per litre.

These anticipated adjustments come after significant improvements in international petroleum product prices combined with strength in the rand/US dollar exchange rate over the course of March.

On 28 February, the cost of Brent Crude oil stood at $73.18 per barrel. It dropped down to $69.28 per barrel by 10 March, and climbed back to $73.63 by the 28th.

The lower average selling price of the black gold during the period led to an over-recovery of 53-66c per litre in domestic petrol prices and 78-80c per litre in diesel prices.

At the same time, the average rand/US dollar exchange rate fell from roughly R18.51/dollar on 28 February to around R18.30/dollar by 27 March.

This saw a further over-recovery of between 11-12c per litre in South African petrol and diesel prices, depending on the grade.

Accounting for these inputs, fuel prices this Wednesday are expected to be adjusted as follows:

• Petrol 93 – Decrease of 64c a litre
• Petrol 95 – Decrease of 78c a litre
• Diesel 0.05% – Decrease of 90c a litre
• Diesel 0.005% – Decrease of 93c a litre

It should be noted that these predictions are not the official changes that will be made by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources in April.

The final changes could be higher or lower as they are also subject to potential changes in the Slate Levy, taxes, transport and storage costs, or wholesale and retail margins

Petrol tax adjustments for April

In his annual Budget Speech on 13 March 2025, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana proposed that the General Fuel (GFL) and Road Accident Fund (RAF) levies remain unchanged for 2025, extending a relief measure that was first introduced in 2022.

The GFL will therefore be pegged at R3.85 per litre for petrol and R3.70 per litre for diesel for the coming financial year, while the RAF Levy stays at at R2.18 per litre across the board.

Meanwhile, the Carbon Tax has been hiked by 3c per litre for all fuel types as required under the Carbon Tax Act of 2019.

The new Carbon Tax, set to come into effect on 2 April, now comes in at 14c per litre for petrol and 17c per litre for diesel.

The table below indicates the total combined fuel taxes on petrol and diesel in South Africa for 2025/26: