Take note: Petrol price to increase on Wednesday
The Department of Energy has confirmed that the price of petrol will increase by 49c per litre on May 3.
South African motorists have been hit by several petrol hikes since the beginning of the year, with another scheduled for Wednesday.
The department said this was due to the international product prices of petrol increasing during the recent period, as well as the rand having depreciated against the US dollar.
“The rand depreciated against the US dollar during the period under review, on average, when compared to the previous period.
“The average rand/US dollar exchange rate for the period March 31 to April 25 was R13.5105 compared to R12.9148 during the previous period. This led to a higher contribution to the basic fuels price on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 26.83c/l, 25.48c/l and 25.33c/l respectively,” said the department in a statement.
The price of petroleum product in the international market, which increased in line with the increase of the price of crude oil has also impacted the increase in fuel prices.
Diesel will increase by between 30c and 32c per liter.
Illuminating paraffin users will pay between 34c and 46c per litre while liquefied petroleum gas users will pay an extra 96c per kilogram.
The department added that this would likely add to inflationary pressures and could hit consumers’ pockets hard.
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