The last time South African motorists were forced to contend with a petrol and diesel price hike was back in February this year. Now, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has confirmed that South Africa’s months-long streak of falling fuel prices will finally come to an end tomorrow, Wednesday, 2 July.

As usual, that’s when the DMRE will adjust the country’s fuel prices at all the pumps, leaving you just enough time to get to the nearest garage and take advantage of those current prices before the change kicks in. These aren’t minor increases either, with diesel drivers taking the brunt of the increase with a roughly 82c/l hike, so you’ll want to make sure you follow through, even if the queues look atrocious.

Petrol on your mind?

That’s a far cry from the Central Energy Fund’s (CEF) early petrol price predictions for July, which foretold of yet another petrol and diesel price decrease. So what changed in the three weeks since the CEF’s early reports? Rapidly rising international oil prices, as a direct result of those petty squabbles going on worldwide, are the biggest factor behind the rising price of fuel locally.

Despite these prices settling back to a more normal figure — avoiding some analysts’ predictions that the price of Brent Crude Oil would shoot up to $130/barrel — and a surprisingly stable Rand throughout June, it’s unfortunately too little, too late. The damage was done, and now we’re paying for it. Should this trend continue throughout July, however, we may see a return to form come August with another decrease.

“The Rand appreciated against the US Dollar during the period under review, on average, when compared to the previous period. The average Rand/US Dollar exchange rate for the period 30 May 2025 to 26 June 2025 was 17.8443 compared to 18.1146 during the previous period. This led to a lower contribution to the Basic Fuel Prices on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 15.71 c/l, 16.35 c/l, 16.05 c/l respectively,” the DMRE said.

Fortunately, the DMRE also confirmed that the Self-Adjusting Slate Levy on petrol and diesel will remain at R0. It’s about the small wins, yeah?

From 00:01 on the morning of Wednesday, 2 July, petroleum-based fuels will see the following changes: