South Africa’s luck had to turn eventually. After waiting (somewhat patiently) for the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to grace the country with a drop in petrol prices in 2024, we finally got our wish. The Department just published the official fuel price update for June 2024, and it’s brought with it a R1+ drop in prices for both petrol and diesel drivers.

That’s… big news. Sure, diesel drivers have been enjoying the fruits of continually cheaper diesel prices for months now — but petrol drivers have been waiting on some sort of reprieve from the Department’s ever-rising prices since January of this year. With the R1 drop scheduled to hit South Africa’s pumps at midnight on Wednesday, 5 June, residents can expect to pay under R25/l for both grades of petrol this month.

Wednesday can’t come quick enough

This won’t come as a surprise to any Stuff readers who have followed our petrol price predictions throughout May. The Central Energy Fund foretold the impending drop in prices for both petrol and diesel all throughout May — arriving at those prophetic figures by keeping an eye on the current price of refined oil globally, and the average Rand/US Dollar exchange.

These are the biggest influencers of the country’s fuel prices in any given month and are also used by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to decide on the official fuel prices — meaning it can’t artificially inflate or deflate the prices. It can artificially alter the country’s slate levy mechanism, which has been known to add at least a few cents to the overall price every month. The levy this month will be adjusted by R0.4c/l.