It’s been less than a week since the Department of Energy (DoE) dashed our dreams of a petrol price decrease and instead raised the price of petrol, diesel and paraffin. The worst part? It’s probably going to happen again in April. At least, that’s what the latest data (captured on 03 March) from the Central Energy Fund indicates.
If you are still stretching your petrol from last week’s pre-increase fill-up, you may not be as worried about a potential increase. For now, at least. Come the final week of March, and you and your car will be singing a different tune.
April, please be kind (or not, whatever)
As ever, it’s important to remember that these numbers are not final. The CEF makes an educated guess on the upcoming month’s fuel prices based on a number of factors including the current Rand/US Dollar exchange rate and the price of refined oil. South Africa being South Africa means… well, let’s just say the Rand isn’t doing so well lately.
The Department of Energy is the true decider of the country’s fuel costs. At the end of every month, the Department looks at all the facts and changes the fuel cost accordingly. As always, the month’s new fuel prices come into effect on the first Wednesday of the month, which, in this case, is 5 April.
Here are your fuel price predictions (so far) for April 2023:
- Petrol 95: increase of 55 cents per litre (R0.55)
- Petrol 93: increase of 56 cents per litre (R0.56)
- Diesel 0.05%: increase of 8 cents per litre (R0.08)
- Diesel 0.005%: increase of 6 cents per litre (R0.06)
- Illuminating Paraffin: decrease of 31 cents per litre (R0.31)
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As much as we’d like them to be, the CEF’s predictions are not often far off. It’s possible that South Africa can turn the economy around (however slightly) in the month or so until the Department has its way with our fuel prices. Don’t hold your breath, though. This is South Africa we’re talking about. It’s more likely we’ll end up paying something similar to what the CEF is predicting. Or worse.
Source: Central Energy Fund
