Government corrects ‘erroneous’ petrol price figure for December

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has walked back on previously announced official fuel price changes, admitting that it made an error in its calculations.

“The DMRE regrets to announce that the adjustment of the petrol price announced on Monday, 29 November was erroneous,” it said on Wednesday.

The department initially announced an increase of 81 cents per litre in the retail price of petrol for December, but this included a 6 cents per litre hike for the adjustment of wages for service station workers which had already been implemented in September 2021.

The correct petrol price adjustment for December is an increase of 75 cents per litre. The price adjustments for diesel and illuminating paraffin are unchanged.

• Petrol 95: increase of 75 cents per litre;
• Petrol 93: increase of 75 cents per litre;
• Diesel 0.05%: increase of 73 cents per litre;
• Diesel 0.005%: increase of 75 cents per litre;
• Illuminating Paraffin:  increase of 42 cents per litre.

The hike in prices are due to a weaker rand and higher oil prices during the period under review. The corrected data can be found here.

Announcement changes

The error follows a move by the department to block access to daily fuel price fluctuations from journalists and the wider public.

The department said earlier in November that it will no longer publish the daily over or under-recovery data for fuel prices in South Africa.

This information was previously used by companies and media houses to gauge the monthly estimates for petrol price increases or decreases. In recent months, the department has stopped these daily updates in favour of a bi-monthly update – once at mid-month and again at the end of the month.

The Central Energy Fund (CEF) will only update the information publically once, at the end of the month.

The Automobile Association criticised the move, saying that keeping the information hidden is ultimately not in the best interest of motorists and consumers who are now unable to accurately prepare for fuel price changes.

This is how the prices will reflect at the pumps.

Read: How much more you are paying for petrol in South Africa since the start of the year