The government quiet about South African petrol price relief

The South African government has been quiet about its plans to review the fuel price formula, which it hopes will ease the strain of high prices on motorists in the country.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and minister of petroleum and mineral resources, Gwede Mantashe, have repeatedly mentioned plans to review the fuel price formula.

MyBroadband asked the Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources about the review’s progress, but it had not answered our questions by the time of publication.

In October 2024, Mantashe said South African motorists should be paying around R14 per litre of fuel.

He said the general fuel levy and Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy distort the price to R20 per litre, adding that the government was discussing how to lower fuel prices in the country.

“In the fuel price, there is the general fuel levy, there is the Road Accident Fund, linked to the fuel price. Instead of buying a litre of fuel for R14, you buy it for R20,” the minister said.

“Our argument is: you are distorting the price of fuel. Let’s find the formula for separating these two things and have the price of fuel visible.”

He added that the government intended to conclude the review “in the shortest possible time”.

Responding to Parliamentary questions from MK’s Visvin Reddy in September 2024, Mantashe said the government was concerned about how fuel price add-ons contributed to high living costs in South Africa.

“As an importer of both crude oil and refined products, South Africa is also exposed to the movement of crude oil prices,” he said.

“The Fuel Levies and Road Accident Fund (RAF) on both diesel and petrol are administered by the Minister of Finance, and this Department implements levies which are voted for in parliament.”

Mantashe said the government had established a ministerial task team to review the fuel price formula.

During his Opening of Parliament Address in June 2024, Ramaphosa announced that the Government of National Unity (GNU) would review the petrol price formula to provide lower prices at the pump.

He said the government would identify where prices could be reduced, adding that tackling poverty and the high cost of living was one of the GNU’s key priorities.

“An effective, integrated, and comprehensive poverty alleviation strategy is necessary to protect and support society’s most vulnerable,” said Ramaphosa.

“We will undertake a comprehensive review of administered prices, including the fuel price formula, to identify areas where prices can be reduced.”

Taxes and levies add 30% to 34% to pump prices

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana recently increased the general fuel levy (GFL) to R4.15 per litre of petrol and R3.97 per litre of diesel.

He made the announcement while presenting the third revision of his 2025 Budget Speech. The minister said the GFL increase was the only new tax proposal.

“It means from the 4th of June this year, the general fuel levy will increase by 16 cents per litre for petrol, and by 15 cents per litre for diesel,” said Godongwana.

Combined with the RAF levy of R2.18, the changes take the combined Government-added charges to R11.54 for petrol and R8.64 for diesel.

Other add-ons are included in the pump price of petrol in South Africa. These include:

• Basic Fuel Price (BFP) —  the cost of the petrol before any money is spent on the many other taxes and levies applied.
• “Other levies” — comprise transport, secondary storage, distribution costs, and one or two smaller charges.
• Wholesale and retail margins — the markup that wholesalers and retailers can add.

While the government does not determine all of the “other levies” added to the BFP, it determines the customs and excise tax and carbon levy included under the umbrella term.

Based on June 2025’s inland unleaded 95 and 50ppm diesel prices, the Government-added fees make up 30% of the price per litre of petrol and 34% of the price per litre of diesel.

The chart above shows the combined RAF levy, GFL, carbon tax, and customs and excise duty contribution to inland fuel prices in June 2025.