Look, we’re not going to sugarcoat this one. South Africa’s petrol drivers are in for another rough month, with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DoE) confirming yet another price hike for May — the fourth month in a row — while also handing diesel drivers a price decrease. Again.

The only solace we can offer petrol drivers is that Wednesday, 1 May, the same day that the DoE mutilates the petrol pumps, is also a public holiday. It helps that the hike is not quite as debilitating as in previous months, hovering around the 30c mark, but an increase is an increase. Here’s hoping June is a little kinder, though we’d advise keeping expectations low.

As written

Do with this information what you will. As long as it involves making your way to the nearest petrol station as quickly as you’re able to beat the big queues. Diesel drivers will want to hold off on filling up their tanks until Wednesday morning unless absolutely necessary to best make use of the incoming price drops, a luxury that petrol drivers do not have.

It’s not like the Department’s fourth petrol price (in a row) increase came as a surprise, either. The Central Energy Fund (CEF) — the state-owned energy company that reports to the DoE and is responsible for those daily predictive snapshots we love so much — has been fore telling the increase throughout April. It’s just our bad luck that the prophecy was about as accurate as the Department’s official figures below.

As cathartic as blaming the Department for the situation might be, it’s not entirely at fault. As the CEF does throughout any given month, the Department looks at the previous month’s averages for the Rand/US Dollar exchange and the price of refined oil, globally, meaning the decision is more in the hands of the economy. It does, however, have control over any retail margin changes or slate levy additions, which this month amount to as much as R.