South Africa: SA Motorists Can't Escape the Petrol Price Pain in September

31 August 2026
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Lindsey Schutters

Petrol is up by R1.34 and diesel gets a R2.94 increase, and there's nothing we can do about it for now.

Yes, the randela got stronger against the dollar when you average out the exchange rate over August, and that usually means that petrol should be cheaper, but it also isn't that simple.

This strengthening of the rand acted as a crucial financial cushion, reducing the impact of the global price hikes by more than 20c per litre across the entire domestic consumer energy stack - even kissing 30c savings on diesel.

While the stronger rand did its best to cushion South Africans, the global refined fuel price hikes were simply too aggressive.

When you subtract the rand's savings from the global product price increases, we are left with a net Basic Fuel Price (BFP) under-recovery of R1.06 on petrol and R2.71 on the diesel side.

Wait, how much extra am I paying?Petrol (Both 93 and 95 Octane, ULP & LRP): An increase of 134.00 cents per litre (R1.34/l).Diesel 0.05% Sulphur: An increase of 293.90 cents per litre (R2.94/l).Diesel 0.005% Sulphur: An increase of 314.90 cents per litre (R3.15/l).Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): An increase of 213.00 cents per litre (R2.13/l).Illuminating Paraffin Single Maximum National Retail Price (SMNRP): An increase of 284.00 cents per litre (R2.84/l).LP Gas: An increase of 69.00 cents per...

Read the full story on Daily Maverick.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2026 Daily Maverick. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.