Rising cost of fuel in SA ‘unfortunate’

President Cyril Ramaphosa has acknowledged that the pending increase in the cost of petrol will impact the pockets of South Africans hard, with the temporary reduction of the general fuel levy set to end this month.

For June, the price of petrol is expected to increase by R1.93 a litre, while diesel will go up by R1.60.

The increases will push the price of petrol to above R24 a litre in Gauteng and diesel to more than R25.

Speaking to the media in Carolina, Mpumalanga, on his presidential imbizo tour, Ramaphosa noted that motorists were going to have to fork out more money to pay for petrol amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has affected fuel prices globally.

“Petrol increase is as a result of petrol rises globally – many countries are suffering the same effect,” he said.

“So, in our case, we took an initiative which is going to come to an end [at] the end of this month, and unfortunately, it is going to hit drivers and car owners quite hard.”

The temporary relief, which saw the country’s fuel levy for petrol going down from R3.85 per litre to R2.35 per litre, is set to end on 31 May.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe told Fin24 this week that the levy reduction would not be extended beyond May.

He did, however, indicate that his department still needed to consult National Treasury on the matter.

“We have to meet Treasury to [see] if there can be anything more that we can do,” Mantashe said.

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