Petrol, diesel, paraffin and LP gas are all cheaper this month as winter sets in.

With the winter school holidays around the corner and a weak economy, consumers will welcome the price drop of more than a rand per litre of fuel.

Every drop counts: from midnight on Tuesday, the price of both 93 and 95-octane unleaded petrol will drop by R1.24 a litre, diesel by between R1.09 and R1.19 a litre, illuminating paraffin by between 80c and R1.07 a litre and LP gas by R1.35 a kilogram.

The Central Energy Fund, which issues the price changes on behalf of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, attributes the reduction in price to a decrease in the average international product prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin, and the strengthening of the rand against the dollar.

Annabel Bishop, the chief economist at Investec, said the rand's strength over May contributed about a third towards the fuel price reduction, with the other two-thirds coming from the decline in international oil and petroleum product prices.

"Lower oil and petroleum product prices are positive for inflation -- and so consumers in South Africa -- and also have a moderating effect on the inflation forecast, which can be positive for interest rates by bringing repo rate cuts...