Motorists can expect diesel price drop & petrol hike in April

South Africans can expect petrol price hikes in April and that is the word doing the rounds in the media space.

BusinessTech Africa has discovered that a price hike awaits motorists next month, but the price of diesel is expected to drop.

According to mid-month data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF), the prices of both 93 and 95 unleaded petrol are expected to rise 35c/l on April 5.

Meanwhile, the price of high-sulphur 0.05% diesel is expected to decrease 9c/l, with an 11c reduction for low-sulphur 0.005% diesel. The price of illuminating paraffin should also go down by 53c per a report by SowetanLIVE.

The anticipated increase is based on preliminary data on the current oil price and rand-dollar exchange rate, but could change before month end, announced the CEF.

While 2023 started on a good note with price cuts of more than R2/l for petrol and diesel in January, in February and March motorists were hit with hikes.

In a similar report, BusinessTech Africa reported that in his eagerly anticipated budget speech last month, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the National Treasury will not increase the General fuel and Road Accident Fund levies for 2023.

Godongwana said there are no major tax proposals in this budget as tax revenue collection for 2022/2023 is expected to reach R1.69 trillion – exceeding the 2022 budget by an estimated R93.7 billion.

Based on his announcement, this means the General Fuel Levy will remain at 18% of the retail price, and the Road Accident Fund levy will remain at about 10%. 

These are the expected changes:

Petrol 93: increase of 25 cents a litre;

Petrol 95: increase of 26 cents a litre;

Diesel 0.05%: decrease 20 cents a litre;

Diesel 0.005%: decrease of 22 cents a litre;

Illuminating paraffin: decrease of 68 cents a litre.