Energy

Petrol price slate levy changes for South Africa are coming

Staff Writer

 ·17 Aug 2026

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has gazetted a proposed change to South Africa’s slate levy procedures, which will allow importers to keep part of the tax when global prices fluctuate.

The proposed change will not affect the pump prices motorists pay or the slate levy itself, but should protect importers and wholesalers during market turbulence, as seen in 2026.

South Africa’s fuel prices are set only once a month by the department, based on international oil prices and the rand-dollar exchange rate.

However, these prices fluctuate daily, leading to a gap between what fuel companies pay to import fuel and what they charge motorists at the pump.

This daily change is tracked by the Central Energy Fund through its recovery data.

When fuel companies pay more to import fuel than they charge at retail, this results in a temporary loss, recorded as an under-recovery.

When the inverse happens, there is a temporary gain, or an over-recovery.

The government tracks these cumulative losses and gains across the industry in the slate account. When the account shows a significant deficit, an extra tax—the slate levy—is added to prices.

The levy itself is collected by the CEF to reimburse wholesalers and importers for the temporary losses.

In a new gazette, the department now proposes a rule change allowing these companies to conditionally retain the slate levy collected from consumers, rather than paying it to the CEF.

This would only be the case where such an importer or wholesaler has a cumulative negative balance that exceeds the reimbursement threshold set by the department.

The retained funds would then count as partial reimbursement for the verified under-recovery losses.

From an oversight perspective, the companies would still have to comply with all CEF reporting, reconciliation, and audit requirements.

Further, the retention would have to stop once the under-recovery balance drops below R500 million (or an earlier date set by the Minister).

The CEF would still be tasked with tracking all records to ensure that all retained funds match verified losses.

The changes would also allow the Minister to make any other additional changes and measures necessary for the implementation and monitoring of the temporary arrangement.

Broadly, the proposed changes are administrative in nature and would move to cut out admin and long waits for reimbursement during times of severe deficits.

Petrol price fluctuations

The proposed changes come in the context of the surge of oil prices in 2026, following the United States’ war in Iran.

The conflict, which began on 28 February, saw global oil prices shoot up to over $120 a barrel, leading to fuel price surges worldwide.

In South Africa, petrol and diesel prices saw R5 and R10 shocks in April, prompting the government to step in.

At the time, the National Treasury cut R3 in fuel taxes from pump prices to spare motorists the worst of it. However, prices continued to surge in May.

In June, the taxes were partially reinstated, cutting the benefit of stabilising oil prices. In July, the full tax cut was terminated.

While fuel prices appeared to be on a downward trajectory, the conflict flared again in mid-July, leading to another diesel price hike in August.

For petrol, the easing of the slate levy in the preceding months helped push prices into a relatively small cut—but current recoveries show a bleak picture is building once again for September.

At mid-month, petrol prices are building for a 77-cent-per-litre hike in September, while diesel could climb by another R2.90.

To underline the severe impact of the war and rocketing global oil prices, the current recovery levels would see petrol being R6.25 more expensive than before the war.

Diesel would be R11.35 higher than in February.

During these months of surges and swings, fuel importers and wholesalers would be left footing the bill, waiting for the CEF to reimburse them from the slate account.

With the proposed changes, they would be able to retain some of those funds to ease that burden.

Post-Iran War price adjustments

The full gazette can be read below: