Finance minister, Tito Mboweni, has announced an increase in fuel levies for 2019.<\/p>\n
In his budget speech\u00a0on Wednesday\u00a0(20 February), the minister said that the general fuel levy will be increased by 15 cents a litre for petrol and diesel from 3 April.<\/p>\n
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy will also increase by 5 cents a litre for petrol and diesel on the same date.<\/p>\n
As expected, the introduction of South Africa’s Carbon Tax will see an additional 9 cents per litre on petrol and 10 cents per litre on diesel added – however this change will come into effect from 5 June.<\/p>\n
While the increases are largely in line with expectations leading up to the budget speech, further increases in the fuel levy will likely have inflationary effects and increase transportation costs.<\/p>\n
In the 2018 medium-term budget speech it was stated that the liability of the Road Accident Fund (RAF) is expected to grow to R393 billion by 2021\/2022 from R206 billion at the time of the MTBPS, and that the RAF would require further large increases to the fuel levy in each of the following three years.<\/p>\n
As such, this year’s increases are expected to be the first of a number of annual increases in the coming years.<\/p>\n
“The Road Accident Fund levy increase is not enough to match the Fund\u2019s R215 billion liability,” Mboweni said.<\/p>\n
“We urge the Department of Transport to quickly resubmit the Road Accident Benefit Scheme Bill for Parliament\u2019s urgent consideration. It will help stabilise fuel prices.”<\/p>\n
Mboweni also detailed how excise duties on alcohol and tobacco, and other hikes, will be implemented:<\/p>\n
Mboweni stated that white bread flour, cake flour, and sanitary pads will be zero-rated for VAT purposes from 1 April 2019.<\/p>\n
This is what you can expect to pay at the pumps next month based on the CEF\u2019s mid-month data.<\/p>\n
| Fuel<\/th>\n | February Official<\/th>\n | March Expected<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n |
|---|---|---|
| 95 Petrol<\/td>\n | R14.08<\/td>\n | R14.51<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 93 Petrol<\/td>\n | R13.87<\/td>\n | R14.30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| 0.05% Diesel (wholesale)<\/td>\n | R13.15<\/td>\n | R13.75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \n |