Bad news about petrol prices in South Africa

Motorists in South Africa saw no relief at the fuel pumps this week with an imperceptible 1c per litre reduction in petrol prices, and prices are now set to increase again this December.

Earlier this week, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources published the latest official fuel price adjustments, which took effect on Wednesday, 4 November.

Petrol was set to increase by roughly R1.50 per litre, but this increase was cancelled out by the government’s temporary relief measure, cutting the General Fuel Levy (GFL) by R1.50 per litre.

Unfortunately, prices are set to go up again next month, and this time the GFL cut won’t be enough to prevent another hike.

Early data from the Central Energy Fund for the first week of November shows that petrol and diesel are experiencing an under-recovery.

Petrol is looking at an increase of between R1.53 and R1.84 per litre, while diesel is facing a smaller hike of between R0.19 and R0.54 per litre.

This is mainly due to movements in the international oil price, which is significantly higher than it was at the beginning of 2026.

That being said, there are signs that conditions will improve, as Brent Crude plummeted from $113 per barrel to $95 per barrel after the United States midterm elections, where the Republican Party experienced major losses.

Petrol prices are likely to improve if this trend continues, though there remains a risk that the US will resume military strikes against Iran, disrupting energy flows from the Middle East.

These are the CEF’s latest fuel price adjustment predictions at the start of November:

• Petrol 93 – increase of R1.53 per litre
• Petrol 95 – increase of R1.84 per litre
• Diesel 0.05% (wholesale) – increase of R0.54 per litre
• Diesel 0.005% (wholesale) – increase of R0.19 per litre

While the government still plans to reduce the GFL in December, it will do so by a smaller amount than it did this month.

From 4 November to 1 December 2026, the GFL will be reduced by R1.50 per litre for petrol and R3.00 per litre for diesel.

However, from 2 December 2026 to 5 January 2027, it will only be cut by R1.00 per litre for petrol and R1.50 per litre for diesel.

This means that petrol will still go up by between 53c and 84c per litre in December, despite the tax cut.

Diesel users, on the other hand, will see an appreciable drop next month of between R0.96 and R1.31 per litre.

The following table shows how fuel prices will be affected in December after the fuel relief measures have been factored in: