{"id":875224,"date":"2026-09-16T14:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T12:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=875224"},"modified":"2026-09-16T14:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T12:30:11","slug":"r14-per-litre-plan-for-petrol-and-diesel-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/875224\/r14-per-litre-plan-for-petrol-and-diesel-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"R14 per litre plan for petrol and diesel in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The government has remained silent on the plans to bring petrol and diesel prices down to R14 per litre in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also serious doubts about whether the R14-per-litre figure remains achievable, with motorists facing another major fuel price increase in October that could push prices towards R30 per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, the Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources said it is continuing its review of the fuel price formula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2026, its Annual Performance Plan for 2026\/27 confirmed that the review was underway and targeted completion before 31 March 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department described the review as a \u201ccritical strategic intervention\u201d aimed at addressing the pressure that high petrol and diesel prices place on motorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, Minerals and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said South Africans should be paying around R14 per litre for petrol and diesel if fuel-related levies and other costs were separated from the underlying fuel price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur argument is: you are distorting the price of fuel. Let\u2019s find the formula to separate these things and have the price of fuel visible,\u201d Mantashe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He argued that charges such as the Road Accident Fund levy and general fuel levy had pushed the pump price above R20 per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BusinessTech asked Mantashe\u2019s department for an update on the fuel pricing policy review and whether the R14-per-litre figure remains realistic given the significant changes in global oil prices during 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department had not responded by the time of publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, the department\u2019s performance plan noted that its review would include an examination of the Regulatory Account System.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would also take a detailed look at four major margin structures that influence petrol and diesel prices: wholesale, retail, storage and distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Significant savings if the department somehow follows through on its promise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The timing of the review is significant because South African motorists have already been hit by substantial fuel-price increases this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global oil prices have also risen sharply, with Brent crude approaching $110 per barrel as tensions in the Middle East escalated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As South Africa is a net importer of petroleum products, higher international oil prices and a weaker rand place significant upward pressure on domestic fuel prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mid-month Central Energy Fund data<\/strong><\/a> indicate that both petrol and diesel are facing substantial under-recoveries, pointing to increases of around R2 per litre in October if current trends persist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would push fuel prices to well over R29 a litre, with the daily under-recoveries edging towards the R30\/litre mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such an increase would push petrol towards a new record high, further widening the gap between the current pump price and Mantashe\u2019s R14 target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If fuel could actually be sold at R14 per litre, motorists would see substantial savings every time they fill up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 45-litre petrol tank would cost R630 at R14 per litre, while a 55-litre tank would cost R770. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means motorists with smaller petrol tanks could save roughly R581 to R711 compared with September\u2019s official prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For diesel vehicles with tanks of between 45 and 55 litres, the saving would be about R722 to R883.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a typical 60-litre SUV, filling up with 95 unleaded petrol at R14 per litre would save around R775. A 60-litre diesel tank would save roughly R963.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The savings are even greater for larger SUVs and bakkies. A 75-litre petrol tank would save about R969, while an 80-litre tank would save around R1,034.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 50ppm diesel, the savings would range from approximately R1,203 for a 75-litre tank to R1,284 for an 80-litre tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel Type<\/strong><\/td>Tank Size<\/strong><\/td>Cost to Fill (September 2026)<\/strong><\/td>Cost to Fill at R14\/L<\/strong><\/td>Difference<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Unleaded 95<\/strong><\/td>45 litres<\/td>R1,211.40<\/td>R630.00<\/td>R581.40<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>50 litres<\/td>R1,346.00<\/td>R700.00<\/td>R646.00<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>55 litres<\/td>R1,480.60<\/td>R770.00<\/td>R710.60<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>60 litres<\/td>R1,615.20<\/td>R840.00<\/td>R775.20<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>75 litres<\/td>R2,019.00<\/td>R1,050.00<\/td>R969.00<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>80 litres<\/td>R2,153.60<\/td>R1,120.00<\/td>R1,033.60<\/td><\/tr>
Diesel 50ppm<\/strong><\/td>45 litres<\/td>R1,352.25<\/td>R630.00<\/td>R722.25<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>50 litres<\/td>R1,502.50<\/td>R700.00<\/td>R802.50<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>55 litres<\/td>R1,652.75<\/td>R770.00<\/td>R882.75<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>60 litres<\/td>R1,803.00<\/td>R840.00<\/td>R963.00<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>75 litres<\/td>R2,253.75<\/td>R1,050.00<\/td>R1,203.75<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>80 litres<\/td>R2,404.00<\/td>R1,120.00<\/td>R1,284.00<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government has remained silent on whether the R14-per-litre figure remains achievable, despite motorists facing another major fuel price increase in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":863292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"X publishing failed: X returned HTTP 403: Your monthly spend cap has been reached.","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[20686,853],"class_list":["post-875224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-department-of-mineral-and-petroleum-resources","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875224"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":875832,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875224\/revisions\/875832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}