Fuel-good at the pumps: April petrol price predictions point to cut of nearly R1

Latest fuel price data points to more mileage for your buck come the April holidays and Easter break, with February’s downward trend in recoveries for petrol and diesel continuing this month.

Two consecutive months of petrol price cuts might sound almost too good to be true, but if the current over-recoveries hold, Mzansi motorists will be able to go the extra mile during their school holiday travels.

Fuel price cuts might even be close to the R1 mark for petrol and diesel if the significant predicted decreases in petrol and diesel prices hold until official price adjustments come into play on Wednesday, 2 April.

Fuel price relief

This after a slight yet welcome decrease in March, breaking the crippling cycle of four months’ back-to-back fuel price increases, with all types of petrol decreasing by 7c a litre, and diesel prices are between 18c and 24c a litre.

 The latest fuel snapshot from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) shows that petrol prices are sitting pretty with an over-recovery of between 85 cents and 98 cents per litre, while diesel is gunning for another significant cut of around 84 cents per litre.

April fuel price: Expected changes in petrol, diesel and paraffin

• Petrol 93: Decrease of 85 cents per litre;
• Petrol 95: Decrease of 98 cents per litre;
• Diesel 500ppm: Decrease of 86 cents per litre;
• Diesel 50ppm: Decrease of 87 cents per litre; and
• Illuminating paraffin: Decrease of 82 cents per litre.

Budget Speech: Fuel tax frozen

In his postponed Budget Speech on Wednesday, 12 March, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana expanded the basket of zero-rated goods and frozen fuel levies to reduce the impact of the proposed one percentage point VAT increase over two years.

Fuel levies have been frozen since April 2022.

Carbon fuel levy hike

Motorists will, however, still be paying more taxes for fuel from April, with the carbon fuel levy going up by three cents per litre.

“The carbon tax plays an integral role in South Africa’s climate change mitigation efforts. It increased from R190 to R236 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent from 1 January 2025,” Godongwana said in his Budget Speech.

From 2 April, the carbon fuel levy will increase by 3cpl from 11cpl to 14cpl for petrol and from 14cpl to 17cpl for diesel.

DMRE has the final say

The CEF’s predictions, however, come with a caveat, as factors—such as the Department of Mineral Resources and Petroleum’s slate levy or retail margin changes—could still affect the final official fuel prices.

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