{"id":878527,"date":"2026-10-08T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=878527"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:55:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T09:55:24","slug":"r344-petrol-price-pain-for-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/878527\/r344-petrol-price-pain-for-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"R344 petrol price pain for South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In just one year, petrol prices in South Africa have skyrocketed, adding R8.62 per litre to the cost of filling up, and increasing the bill for a 40-litre tank by over R344.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 2025, inland 93-octane petrol was already high at R21.48 per litre, but by October 2026, it surged to R29.88 per litre, an alarming jump of R8.40. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inland 95-octane petrol reflects a similar trend, starting at R21.63 per litre last year and climbing to R30.25 per litre this year, which means an increase of R8.62. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inland 0.05% wholesale diesel saw the most significant increase, moving from R19.34 per litre in October 2025 to R31.95 per litre in October 2026. This marked a rise of R12.61 per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This steep rise in fuel prices has strained the budgets of car owners across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In anticipation of fuel price hikes, various sectors of the economy called for direct government intervention, specifically advocating for a reduction in fuel levies, similar to the cuts implemented in April 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the National Treasury has previously stated that pursuing such an option would incur its own costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intervention in April resulted in a budget deficit of over R17 billion, which would need to be recovered from other areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has also emphasised that the budget cannot protect motorists from every external price increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

September was a challenging month for fuel prices, as escalating conflicts in the Middle East pushed oil prices above $100 per barrel, where they remained for much of the month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petrol and diesel drivers will face significant price hikes starting Wednesday, with petrol rising by R3.12 and R3.33 per litre, and diesel by R2.84 and R3.24 per litre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inland fuel price per litre comparison in 2025 and 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fuel grade<\/strong><\/td>October 2025 price<\/strong><\/td>October 2026 price<\/strong><\/td>Price increase \/ litre<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
93 Petrol (Inland)<\/strong><\/td>R21.48<\/td>R29.88<\/td>+R8.40<\/td><\/tr>
95 Petrol (Inland)<\/strong><\/td>R21.63<\/td>R30.25<\/td>+R8.62<\/td><\/tr>
Diesel 0.05% Wholesale (Inland)<\/strong><\/td>R19.34<\/td>R31.95<\/td>+R12.61<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In South Africa, 40 to 45-litre tanks are typically found in small hatchbacks and compact passenger cars and 60-litre tanks are commonly associated with medium sedans and SUVs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For larger SUVs and bakkies, 80-litre tanks are standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of filling a 40-litre tank with 93-octane petrol was R859.20 in October 2025, compared to R1,195.20 in October 2026, making each fill-up R336.00 more expensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filling a 40-litre tank with 95-octane petrol increased from R865.20 in October 2025 to R1,210.00 in October 2026, adding an extra R344.80 to each fill-up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For inland 0.05% diesel, the cost to fill a 40-litre tank jumped from R773.60 in October 2025 to R1,278.00 in October 2026, resulting in an increase of R504.40 per fill-up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filling a 60-litre tank with 93-octane petrol cost R1,288.80 in October 2025 and rose to R1,792.80 in October 2026, an increase of R504.00. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of filling a 60-litre tank with 95-octane petrol rose from R1,297.80 in October 2025 to R1,815.00 in October 2026, an increase of R517.20 per tank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of filling a 60-litre tank with 0.05% diesel rose from R1,160.40 in October 2025 to R1,917.00 in October 2026, an increase of R756.60 per fill-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full tank cost comparison (40L vs 60L tanks)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fuel grade and tank capacity<\/strong><\/td>October 2025 cost<\/strong><\/td>October 2026 cost<\/strong><\/td>Year-on-Year increase<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
93 Petrol \u2014 40L<\/strong><\/td>R859.20<\/td>R1,195.20<\/td>+R336.00<\/td><\/tr>
93 Petrol \u2014 60L <\/strong><\/td>R1,288.80<\/td>R1,792.80<\/td>+R504.00<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
95 Petrol \u2014 40L<\/strong><\/td>R865.20<\/td>R1,210.00<\/td>+R344.80<\/td><\/tr>
95 Petrol \u2014 60L <\/strong><\/td>R1,297.80<\/td>R1,815.00<\/td>+R517.20<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Diesel 0.05% \u2014 40L <\/strong><\/td>R773.60<\/td>R1,278.00<\/td>+R504.40<\/td><\/tr>
Diesel 0.05% \u2014 60L <\/strong><\/td>R1,160.40<\/td>R1,917.00<\/td>+R756.60<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The price of petrol in South Africa has skyrocketed over the past year, adding almost R9 per litre to the cost of filling up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":857312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2108129285177303472","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2230281861125546","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17882080494626672","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[20686,2241],"class_list":["post-878527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-department-of-mineral-and-petroleum-resources","tag-fuel-price"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878527","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\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878527"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878614,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878527\/revisions\/878614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}