New Year, same ol’ petrol price concerns, right? According to the latest crop of data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF), those concerns aren’t going anywhere anytime soon – despite the relatively minor price hike that struck the country’s motorists on Wednesday, 1 January. In fact, on the current trajectory, South Africa is in for a nasty shock where its fuel pumps are concerned.

The CEF, a state-owned energy company reporting directly to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), reports that South Africans could be facing increases ranging from R0.50 to R0.75 depending on their choice of fuel. It’s worth mentioning that the CEF’s predictive snapshots (the latest of which was captured 3 January 2025) are not a done deal, and simply provide a baseline for the country to rally, or commiserate around.

Petrolheads, unite!

That responsibility of deciding South Africa’s official fuel prices lies with the DMRE itself, although it relies heavily on the CEF’s data. At the end of any given month, the DMRE reviews the CEF’s daily predictive snapshots to determine the official fuel price adjustments. It then adjusts these prices on the first Wednesday of every new month. In this case, that’s Wednesday, 5 February.

The CEF tracks the two biggest economic factors that can alter the price of fuel in South Africa. Those are the current Rand/US Dollar exchange rate as well as the price of unrefined oil globally. The largest factor causing the spike in the prices listed below is the price of oil, which has seen a massive price hike since December 2024, while an ever-weakening Rand has not helped matters.

We are, however, still in early January, meaning that these figures can be turned around should the Rand decide to Rally against the Dollar, or the price of Brent Crude oil drop. The opposite is also possible, however, with a weaker Rand and higher oil prices possibly raising prices even further. We’ll continue to update you until that happens.