Distressing signs for South Africa’s petrol price in June this year has loomed for some time now. The situation appears even more dire than it seemed to be two weeks ago.

Then, it looked as though South African motorists could be paying at least R3.00 more per litre of petrol in June. Unfortunately, it seems this prediction was a little too optimistic. Currently, the petrol price increase appears to be sitting at R2.25 a litre. But that’s not the end of it.

Petrol price pain pending

The current petrol under-recovery sum of R2.25/litre doesn’t account for the government-mandated tax break. The R1.50 discount for both petrol and diesel, about 40% of the general fuel levy, was only mandated until 31 May. Energy minister Gwede Mantashe has already said that this won’t be extended.

This means that South Africa’s petrol price increase is set for the region of R3.70 or more in the first week of June. If you’re rocking a 35-litre gas tank, that’s an extra R130 per top-up. If you’ve got a 45-litre tank, your bill is about to go up by R167 per stop. And if you’ve got a 65-litre gas guzzler, you can expect to pay R240 more at the pumps.

The Democratic Alliance, always willing to take a shot at the opposition, has called for the petrol price tax break to be extended. “If projections by players in the fuel industry hold, motorists should expect an increase in fuel price by R3.50 in the first week of June. This would lead to upward pressure on inflation, hitting consumers directly through rising transport and food costs. And these prices do not ebb and flow like the fuel price,” the party said.

Source: BusinessTech