Major petrol and diesel price hike confirmed for March 2026

You’ll want to take advantage of February’s glorious petrol and diesel prices while you still can. The official fuel price adjustments for March 2026 have been announced, bringing with them a major a hike across the board. Petrol, diesel, and even illuminating paraffin prices weren’t lucky enough to dodge a hike this month.

Motorists are suffering this March

All signs point to the increase in March being the first of many. With tensions bubbling over in countries overseas, oil prices will continue to soar higher and higher. Oil prices are one of the biggest factors used to determine the price of fuel locally, in conjunction with the average Rand/US dollar exchange rate. Even before the recent events in Iran, prices were rising gradually, leading to the Central Energy Fund (CEF) teasing a hike for all.

Fortunately, motorists still have time to fill up their vehicles at the current February prices before the hike comes into effect. The Department of Mineral Resources (DMRE) typically adjusts the pumps on the first Wednesday of the new month. In this case, that will fall on this coming Wednesday, 4 March 2026. So, uh, get going.

“The average international product prices for Petrol, Diesel and Illuminating Paraffin increased during the period under review. 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 January 2026 to 26 February 2026 was 15.9959 compared to 16.3054 during the previous period. This led to a lower contribution to the Basic Fuel Prices on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin by 16.959 c/l, 19.200 c/l, 19.207 c/l, respectively”.