Petrol price pain for those holidaymakers heading home
The latest round of fuel price hikes came at the worst possible time for those South Africans who elected to hit the road for their holidays.
The latest round of fuel price hikes came at the worst possible time for those South Africans who elected to hit the road for their festive season holidays.
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Holidaymakers travelling home in the next couple of days or weeks will need to factor in the extra cost of filling up after both petrol and diesel prices were hiked from New Year’s Day.
The cost of fuel both inland at the coast rose on 1 January.
With schools around the country starting on Wednesday, 15 January, expect traffic to ramp up dramatically in the coming days.
There’s simply no way around having to fill up at petrol stations along your route.
Bad news for South Africa’s motorists
As reported by The South African website, the Department of Petroleum and Mineral Resources confirmed the official fuel price adjustments which came into effect from New Year’s Day, Wednesday, 1 January 2025.
In what was bad news for South Africa’s motorists, December saw the global price of petrol increase and the rand come in weaker relative to November, leading to an under-recovery in prices.
This has translated to a price hike at the pumps, marking the second consecutive month of increases.
Prices went up by 12 and 19 cents per litre for 93 and 95 petrol, respectively, and between 7.50 and 10.50 cents per litre for diesel.
| FUEL | PRICE CHANGE |
| Petrol 93 | increase of 19 cents |
| Petrol 95 | increase of 12 cents |
| Diesel 0.05% | increase of 7.5 cents |
| Diesel 0.005% | increase of 10.5 cents |
| Illuminating Paraffin | decrease of 9.5 cents |
FUEL PRICE IN SOUTH AFRICA IMPACTED BY TWO MAIN FACTORS:
1. The international price of petroleum products, driven mainly by oil prices
2. The rand/dollar exchange rate used in the purchase of these products
Oil price
At the time of publishing the brent crude oil price is $74.87 a barrel.
Exchange rate
At the time of publishing the rand/dollar exchange rate is R18.78/$.
The next price changes for both petrol and diesel will take effect at midnight on Tuesday, 4 February 2025.
Go easy on the accelerator until then, Mzansi.
The NEW January 2025 petrol and diesel prices (Inland and Coastal):
| INLAND | January |
| Petrol 93 | R21.34 |
| Petrol 95 | R21.59 |
| Diesel 0.05% | R19.29 |
| Diesel 0.005% | R19.44 |
| Illuminating Paraffin | R13.26 |
| COASTAL | January |
| Petrol 93 | R20.55 |
| Petrol 95 | R20.80 |
| Diesel 0.05% | R18.50 |
| Diesel 0.005% | R18.68 |
| Illuminating Paraffin | R12.26 |