The official diesel price increase announced earlier this week was incorrect, and motorists can expect a lower fuel price adjustment tomorrow.
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) has corrected an error in its fuel price calculation for May 2026, showing that consumers will pay almost R1 less than previously anticipated.
The Central Energy Fund has since reissued the fuel price adjustment for this month.
With the changes, the wholesale price of diesel will increase by R5.27 per litre tomorrow (6 Wednesday 2026), a notable improvement from the R6.19 per litre increase reported on Monday.
The correct figure is roughly 93c less than the previous adjustment, which lines up with the 93c per litre fuel levy reduction announced by the DMPR and the National Treasury for this month.
This suggests the that the additional diesel relief measure was not initially factored into the fuel price adjustment.
Unfortunately, this measure was not extended to petrol, which means that fuel’s official price adjustments are unchanged.
That being said, the government has elected to continue its fuel tax reduction this May to ease the financial burden on households.
The relief measure was implemented in April, following the start of the Iran war, and was only supposed to last for one month, but it since been extended to May.
The new plan is for the full fuel tax to be re-added to the official price in parts over the next two months.
This means that R1.50 will be added back to the price of petrol in June, while R1.97 will be added back to the diesel price.
In July, the relief measure will end, so motorists will pay an additional R1.50 for petrol, and R1.96 for diesel.
Below are the corrected fuel price adjustments for May 2026:
- Petrol 93 – Increase of R3.27 per litre
- Petrol 95 – Increase of R3.27 per litre
- Diesel 0.05% (wholesale) – Increase of R5.27 per litre
- Diesel 0.005% (wholesale) – Increase of R5.27 per litre
With this in mind, this is how the adjustments will reflect at the pumps from tomorrow:
The table below indicates how the official fuel price adjustments for May will reflect at the pump:
| Fuel type | Inland price | Coastal price |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol 93 | R26.52 | R25.73 |
| Petrol 95 | R26.63 | R25.76 |
| Diesel 0.05% (Wholesale) | R31.17 | R30.30 |
| Diesel 0.005% (Wholesale) | R31.88 | R30.62 |
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