The end of the year is nearly upon us, but that doesn’t mean the machine that is the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) takes a moment to rest. South Africa will still see its petrol and diesel prices adjusted on the first Wednesday of the new month, and in this case, the first Wednesday of the new year, 1 January 2025.

The Central Energy Fund (CEF), a state-owned energy company reporting directly to the DMRE, tracks the various economic factors that can influence the country’s ever-changing fuel prices. The CEF offers daily predictive snapshots, giving residents the clearest picture of what’s coming in the new year.

Petrol on your mind?

The latest snapshot (captured 10 December 2024), paints a messy picture for South Africans. Despite increases across all grades of fuel in December, it appears as though buyers of 95 petrol might be let off easy, while all the rest will be subjected to increases at the pumps in the new year.

The two biggest factors influencing fuel prices in South Africa are the price of unrefined oil internationally – like the barrel price of Crude Oil – as well as the current Rand/US Dollar exchange rate. In this case, weaker Crude oil prices, and a slowly waking Rand throughout December have driven the prices to what they are below.

Should the Rand continue to struggle against the Dollar, we could see even larger increases by the time 1 January arrives. We’ll continue to offer updates this December, giving readers the ability to plan ahead of the coming price increases.

Here are the petrol and diesel price predictions (so far) for January 2025: