South Africans will feel a major blow as fuel prices go up on 1 April.
Inland, the price of 95 octane petrol will now cost R12.89/ litre.
“It should be noted however, that the price of petrol (ULP 95) in Gauteng will cost about R12.89 per litre compared to R14.39 in April 2014,” according to Lerato Ntsoko, spokesperson of the energy department.
- Diesel will increase by 124.70 cents/ litre
- Petrol will increase by 162 cents/litre
- Illuminating paraffin will increase by 36 cents per litre
- Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will increase by 85 cents per kilogram
The price of petrol has decreased by R4.02 since July last year till February 2015 and taking the current increase into account, a litre of petrol is still R1.50 cheaper than it was in April last year.
The reasons for the hike are attributed to the high petroleum prices and the rand’s continued decline against the US dollar.
According to Ntsoko, South Africa’s fuel prices are adjusted on a monthly basis, informed by international and local factors.
International factors include the fact that South Africa imports both crude oil and finished products at a price set at the international level, including shipping costs.
The reasons for the fuel price increases in April 2015 are;
- The increase in fuel levies and the Road Accident Fund levy as determined annually by the Minister of Finance of 80.5 cents per litre;
- The increase in the transportation costs as determined by the National Energy Regulator (NERSA) and Road Freight Association (RFA) of 2.2 cents per litre in Gauteng. This will result in different prices for different areas (adjusted annually);
- The average increase in the prices of petroleum products in the international markets (about 65 cents per litre for petrol and 31 cents per litre for diesel respectively); and
- The depreciation of the rand against the US dollar during the period under review when compared to the previous one.
“There is no need to panic at this stage. Crude oil price fluctuations are not expected to be excessive if major geopolitical conflicts are excluded,” said Ntsoko.
