Energy

Here is the official petrol price for April

Staff Writer

 ·31 Mar 2026

The Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has published the official fuel price adjustments that will take effect on Wednesday, 1 April 2026.

March saw a massive swing in both global oil prices and the rand’s strength versus the dollar.

Following the United States’ initiation of war against Iran on 28 February in “Operation Epic Fury”, escalations in the Middle East threw markets into chaos.

Retaliatory strikes by Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent global oil prices soaring past $100 a barrel, while investors pulled out of riskier markets, impacting the rand.

With both sides of the fuel price equation working against motorists, this led to steep under-recoveries, putting petrol and diesel prices on the block for the biggest increases in South Africa’s history.

In a bid to soften the blow to motorists, the National Treasury announced it would temporarily cut the fuel levy by R3.00 per litre.

From 1 April, petrol prices will see a massive increase of R3.06 per litre. Diesel prices will see a staggering R7.37 and R7.51 per litre leap.

The table below outlines the changes:

The average international product prices followed the increasing trend of crude oil price.

These factors led to higher contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by R5.26 per litre, R9.49 per litre and R10.80 per litre, respectively.

The prices of Propane and Butane remained the same during the period under review due to lower demand driven by the shift to warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere.

However, shipping costs were higher due to the conflict in the Middle East.

The Rand depreciated on average, against the US Dollar (from 16.00 to 16.64 Rand per USD) during the period under review when compared to the previous one.

This led to higher contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and Illuminating Paraffin by 56.18 c/l, 78.07 c/l and 83.21 c/l, respectively.

The Minister of Finance, in his Budget Speech on the 25th of February 2026, announced that the Fuel Levy on petrol and diesel will increase by 9.00 c/l and 8.00 c/l respectively.

The Carbon Levy will also increase by 5.00 c/l for petrol and 6.00 c/l for diesel. Therefore, the Fuel Levy in the price structure of petrol and diesel will increase to 429.0 c/l and 416.0 c/l.

He further announced that the Road Accident Fund (RAF) Levy on both petrol and diesel will increase by 7.00 c/l to 225.0 c/l. These adjustments will come into effect from the 1st of April 2026.

Due to the ongoing US-Iran conflict, which has affected fuel prices globally, a temporary reduction in the general fuel levy of R3.00 per litre announced by the Minister of Finance in consultation with the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources will be implemented.

This will remain in effect from 1 April to 5 May 2026. Therefore, the fuel levy for petrol and diesel will be 129.0 c/l and 116.0 c/l, respectively, during this period.

The prices take effect from Wednesday, 1 April 2026.

This is how the price changes will reflect at the pumps (Diesel prices reflect wholesale, pump prices will differ):

(This article has been updated to reflect the correct wholesale price increase for illuminating paraffin).