JOHANNESBURG - South African motorists, who are already reeling from record fuel prices, will have to fork out even more from Wednesday, August 4, as the Department of Energy has announced steep price increases for both petrol and diesel.
Both grades of petrol are set to increase by 91 cents a litre, while the wholesale price of diesel will rise by 55 cents. This means that from Wednesday, South Africans will pay R17.58 for a litre of 95 Unleaded petrol at the coast and a whopping R18.30 in the inland regions, where the cheaper 93 Unleaded petrol will now retail for R18.11. The price of 50ppm diesel will rise to R15.06 at the coast and R15.66 inland, but keep in mind that these are wholesale prices and the (somewhat higher) retail prices for diesel will vary between fuel stations.
How much more for a tank?
What do these price increases mean in terms of the cost of a tank? Putting 35 litres of 93 Unleaded petrol into the 40 litre tank of a Volkswagen Polo (assuming you’re sensible enough to never arrive with less than five litres on board) will now cost you R634, or R31.85 more than it currently costs. Putting 50 litres into a mid-sized car like a Toyota Corolla will now cost R905.50, which is R45.50 more. 75 litres of diesel in a large SUV like the Toyota Fortuner, or a Hilux bakkie, will cost an extra R41.25 versus last month.
Petrol prices up over 20 percent since January
According to the Automobile Association, the price of petrol in August will be around 23 percent higher than in January, while diesel would have risen by around 20 percent.
"The average Rand/US dollar exchange rate consistently trended upward during July and the weaker local currency will make it more expensive for South Africa to import fuel," the AA said, also noting that international oil prices averaged at a higher level last month. Fuel taxes and levies such as the Road Accident Fund levy, which increase annually, are not helping the situation, accounting for R6.11 per litre of fuel.