There’s still a week to go until South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) officially adjusts the country’s fuel prices. Fortunately, the Central Energy Fund (CEF) is predicting that motorists will pay less at the pumps in June than they did throughout May. Unfortunately, the CEF hasn’t yet factored in the massive fuel tax hikes to the general fuel levy recently announced by the National Treasury.
You win this round, diesel drivers…
These hikes amount to as much as 15-16c/l, virtually wiping out the 19c the CEF expects petrol drivers to save throughout June. As such, there’s no reason to panic. Yet. Should the CEF’s expected petrol and diesel price changes (found below) come to pass, motorists may still see a fuel price decrease, if only a minuscule one. We’ll have to wait to find out the changes when the DMRE passes judgement on the first Wednesday of the new month.
In this case, that will fall on Wednesday, 4 June at midnight.
The CEF’s latest predictive snapshot (captured on Tuesday, 27 May) predicts a minor price decrease for petrol drivers, while diesel drivers are expected to receive a much larger 50c/l decrease. Even accounting for the 15/16c/l general fuel levy hike, diesel drivers will likely still save 35c/l when compared to the prices in May.
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It should be noted that the CEF’s predictive figures are not final and are subject to change. The CEF, a state-owned energy company reporting to the DMRE, tracks the various economic factors that influence the price of fuel locally and extrapolates the info to arrive at a rough, but typically accurate prediction of the coming changes.
The CEF specifically keeps an eye on the average Rand/US Dollar exchange rate as well as the average price of unrefined oil internationally. These, in conjunction, inform the price of fuel. Should the Rand weaken or the price of oil rise over the coming days, petrol drivers may be faced with a small increase at the pumps. Diesel drivers, regardless of what happens, should be safe from any pending price hikes.
Here are the petrol and diesel price predictions (so far) for June 2025:
- Petrol 93: decrease of 19 cents per litre (R0.19)
- Petrol 95: decrease of 19 cents per litre (R0.19)
- Diesel 0.05%: decrease of 50 cents per litre (R0.50)
- Diesel 0.005%: decrease of 50 cents per litre (R0.50)
- Illuminating Paraffin: decrease of 55 cents per litre (R0.55)
