South Africans are likely facing a historic R10 per litre price hike for diesel next week, and petrol won’t fare much better.
The Central Energy Fund has published its fuel data for the fourth week of March, indicating that motorists will be hit hard by April’s price adjustments.
The data shows a severe under-recovery of between R5.24 and R5.76 per litre for petrol, while diesel rates have deteriorated to between R9.86 and R10.00 per litre.
These are the latest fuel price predictions as of the final week of March 2026:
- Petrol 93 – Increase of R5.24 per litre
- Petrol 95 – Increase of R5.76 per litre
- Diesel 0.05% (wholesale) – Increase of R9.86 per litre
- Diesel 0.005% (wholesale) – Increase of R10.00 per litre
It’s important to note that these are not the official fuel price adjustments, which will be announced by the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources before Wednesday, 1 April.
However, considering how late in the month it is, it will take a major turnaround in the international oil price for the the CEF’s predictions to be wildly off the mark.
As it stands, the R10 per litre diesel hike is marks the single largest fuel price increase in South Africa’s history.
It would also push the cost of diesel to a new record high.
The previous largest diesel hike on record occurred in July 2022 when the fuel surged to R25.53 per litre.
If April’s prediction holds true, a litre of diesel 0.005% will cost consumers R28.60.
It’s a similar story for petrol, as a R5.76 increase would be the single-largest hike on record.
This would raise the retail price to R26.06 per litre, though it would still be less than the all-time high of R26.74 seen in July 2022.
Unfortunately, the true price of petrol and diesel may be even higher than show here, as the CEF’s data does not include the fuel tax increases tabled by the government.
In his 2026 Budget Speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the state would collectively increase the General Fuel Levy, Road Accident Fund Levy, and Carbon Levy by 21c per litre on 1 April 2026.
The good news is that this may not come to pass, as the government is working to intervene and provide some relief to motorists.
On Wednesday, 25 March, Godongwana revealed in the National Assembly that a Cabinet committee has been assembled to discuss what can be done to mitigate next month’s fuel price increases.
This committee includes Godongwana, the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, and the Electricity Minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
It remains to be seen whether the committee will implement similar intervention methods to those seen in 2022.
However, it is also unclear whether the committee will be able to effectively take action before fuel prices are hiked next week.
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