Motorists reacted incredulously to the notice, remarking that the state should be working to lower fuel prices rather than telling South Africans to drive better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This comes as the new review period for price adjustments in November kicks off, with the CEF pointing to another R4 per litre under-recovery waiting in the wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Call for tax relief that probably won’t come<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sanisha-packirisamy-1600-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a>Sanisha Packirisamy, Group Economist at Momentum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAhead of the fuel hikes, various sectors of the economy called for direct government intervention, proposing that fuel levies be cut, as they had been in April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the National Treasury had previously made it clear that such an option would not come without its own costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The April intervention set the budget back by over R17 billion\u2014an amount that would have to be recovered elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana also made it clear that the budget cannot shield motorists from every external price shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Sanisha Packirisamy, Group Economist at Momentum, the National Treasury has no easy options when it comes to the rising fuel prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the one hand, the department has to protect immediate tax revenues, but rising fuel costs are eroding the broader economy that generates them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The economic case for fuel relief, to offset the dent to purchasing power, is compelling,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“October’s record price spikes, on top of previous steep increases, act as an immediate squeeze on household budgets and business margins.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Higher diesel costs, meanwhile, filter rapidly into freight, agricultural and broader operating costs for businesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If these supply-side pressures feed into secondary or underlying inflation pressures, the South African Reserve Bank may keep interest rates higher for longer, further dampening growth and consumer spending,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If South Africa experiences a severe economic downturn as a result of this, it could potentially cost the fiscus even more in lost personal, corporate and VAT collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This could be more severe than the direct cost of a fuel levy reduction, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, echoing Godongwana’s previous statements, Packirisamy said tax relief comes at a fiscal price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The government\u2019s previous relief package partly relied on windfall revenues\u2014higher commodity prices\u2014that may no longer exist,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Absorbing high fuel prices through additional government borrowing risks driving up government bond yields and weakening the rand, while cutting public spending elsewhere carries its own growth and socio-economic penalties.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The economist noted that there are also political factors at play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said that withholding tax relief is difficult to defend to strapped consumers, “yet repeated extensions create an unrealistic expectation that the government will absorb every external energy shock,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Packirisamy said support for vulnerable groups may be necessary if the price shock threatens lasting structural damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, this, too, would require Treasury to clearly articulate both the revenue cost of intervening and the broader economic risk of withholding support to limit fiscal damage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The South African government has urged motorist to not panic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":876606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2107434956351758821","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2228231874663878","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874,23],"tags":[8995,26550,2171],"class_list":["post-878500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-government","tag-cef","tag-momentum-group","tag-petrol-price"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878500","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878531,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878500\/revisions\/878531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sanisha-packirisamy-1600.jpg\")
<\/a>Ahead of the fuel hikes, various sectors of the economy called for direct government intervention, proposing that fuel levies be cut, as they had been in April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the National Treasury had previously made it clear that such an option would not come without its own costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The April intervention set the budget back by over R17 billion\u2014an amount that would have to be recovered elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana also made it clear that the budget cannot shield motorists from every external price shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Sanisha Packirisamy, Group Economist at Momentum, the National Treasury has no easy options when it comes to the rising fuel prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the one hand, the department has to protect immediate tax revenues, but rising fuel costs are eroding the broader economy that generates them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The economic case for fuel relief, to offset the dent to purchasing power, is compelling,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“October’s record price spikes, on top of previous steep increases, act as an immediate squeeze on household budgets and business margins.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Higher diesel costs, meanwhile, filter rapidly into freight, agricultural and broader operating costs for businesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If these supply-side pressures feed into secondary or underlying inflation pressures, the South African Reserve Bank may keep interest rates higher for longer, further dampening growth and consumer spending,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If South Africa experiences a severe economic downturn as a result of this, it could potentially cost the fiscus even more in lost personal, corporate and VAT collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This could be more severe than the direct cost of a fuel levy reduction, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, echoing Godongwana’s previous statements, Packirisamy said tax relief comes at a fiscal price. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The government\u2019s previous relief package partly relied on windfall revenues\u2014higher commodity prices\u2014that may no longer exist,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Absorbing high fuel prices through additional government borrowing risks driving up government bond yields and weakening the rand, while cutting public spending elsewhere carries its own growth and socio-economic penalties.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The economist noted that there are also political factors at play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said that withholding tax relief is difficult to defend to strapped consumers, “yet repeated extensions create an unrealistic expectation that the government will absorb every external energy shock,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Packirisamy said support for vulnerable groups may be necessary if the price shock threatens lasting structural damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, this, too, would require Treasury to clearly articulate both the revenue cost of intervening and the broader economic risk of withholding support to limit fiscal damage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The South African government has urged motorist to not panic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":876606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2107434956351758821","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2228231874663878","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874,23],"tags":[8995,26550,2171],"class_list":["post-878500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-government","tag-cef","tag-momentum-group","tag-petrol-price"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878500","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878531,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878500\/revisions\/878531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}