The government sets South Africa’s petrol price once a month, and since 7 October 2026 a litre of 95 unleaded in Gauteng has cost R30.25.
Of that, R17.44 is the basic fuel price, the cost of buying petrol abroad and landing it at a South African port. Fuel taxes take R6.58 and the margins of wholesalers, depots and service stations R4.45, according to the price structure the Central Energy Fund (CEF) issued on 2 October for the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR). Transport inland adds 91.1c, the slate levy 87.66c and a petroleum products levy 0.33c, less 0.2c of rounding.
What the basic fuel price covers
South Africa imports crude oil and finished products “at a price set at the international level”, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said on 5 October. For petrol, the basic fuel price uses daily product prices from refining centres in the Mediterranean and Singapore, weighted half each, then adds freight, insurance, port charges, coastal storage and the cost of financing stock, according to the department.
The total is worked out in dollars and turned into rand at the exchange rate at 11:00 SAST each day. In October it made up 57.6% of the Gauteng pump price.
Taxes and levies
National Treasury’s February Budget set the general fuel levy on petrol at R4.10 a litre from 1 April 2026, the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy at R2.25, the carbon fuel levy at 19c and customs and excise duty at 4c.
Source: Fuels Industry Association of South Africa, retail price set at each monthly adjustment, January 2022 to October 2026. Chart: Rand Desk
The government cut the general fuel levy on petrol by R3 a litre from 1 April, citing the Middle East conflict’s pressure on fuel prices, and kept the cut in May. It halved the relief to R1.50 for June and restored the full R4.10 on 1 July.
Margins and transport
The regulated petrol price builds in a margin for each link in the supply chain, which the DMPR’s tables label as guidelines. The retail margin for service stations is 320c a litre, up from 315.1c before September. The wholesale margin is 66.5c, with 39c for secondary storage and 19.1c for secondary distribution.
At the coast, 95 costs R29.38. Diesel pump prices are not regulated; the DMPR publishes a wholesale list price.
The monthly adjustment
Prices change on the first Wednesday of each month. Every day the CEF compares the basic fuel price built into pump prices with the import cost. A shortfall is an under-recovery and a surplus an over-recovery. The average over the review period becomes the next adjustment, so local prices trail world prices by about a month.
Over 25 days between 28 August and 1 October, 95 petrol was under-recovered by 328.894c a litre on average. Rounded to 329c, plus a 4.38c rise in the slate levy and less 0.38c of pump rounding, that gave October’s 333c increase. Our November outlook reports the early CEF data cited by the Automobile Association.
The slate
The slate is the cumulative account of over- and under-recoveries. Under a mechanism in place since 7 January 2009, a slate levy applies to petrol and diesel only if the slate is more than R500 million in deficit.
At the end of August the combined slate was R10.456 billion in the red, the CEF said, and the levy rose to 87.66c a litre in October.
Oil and the rand
Brent crude averaged US$101 a barrel in the review period, up from US$87.89, and dearer international petrol added 329.07c a litre to the basic fuel price, the DMPR said. The rand firmed slightly, averaging R16.2123 to the dollar against R16.2139, which took 0.17c a litre off the basic fuel price, the CEF said.
The basic fuel price is set in dollars, so a weaker rand raises it. On our calculation, each 10c the rand loses adds about 11c a litre at October’s levels. For the January adjustment, the DMPR’s tables show Brent at US$61.47 and a petrol basic fuel price R8.32 below October’s, with 95 in Gauteng at R20.75. In September the Reserve Bank said higher fuel prices were the main reason it raised its near-term inflation forecasts, and it lifted its policy rate.
The next adjustment takes effect on Wednesday 4 November.
