Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe has approved a retail margin increase of 5.7c per litre of petrol sold in South Africa – which will come into effect for all grades of petrol from September 2021.
“This increase is necessary to accommodate the wage increases of pump attendants, cashiers, and administrative staff at service stations,” said the minister.
His announcement came as part of the official fuel price adjustments published by the Department of Energy for the month ahead.
South African petrol prices will rise in September, while diesel prices are falling.
Despite mid-month and end-month fuel price data predicting lower prices for all fuel types, the rise in petrol prices is due to the increase of retail margins on fuel, as well as the adjustment of the new slate levy added to the country’s fuel price calculation in August.
This is according to a report by BusinessTech.
The official fuel price adjustments for September 2021 are as follows:
- Petrol 93 – increase of 4 cents per litre
- Petrol 95 – increase of 4 cents per litre
- Diesel 0.05% – decrease of 15 cents per litre
- Diesel 0.005% – decrease of 14 cents per litre
- Illuminating Paraffin – decrease of 15 cents per litre
South African fuel prices are mainly affected by two factors, the international petroleum costs and the rand/US dollar exchange rate.
During the period under review, international product prices for petrol, diesel, and illuminating paraffin decreased – while the rand weakened against the US dollar.
Despite this, the recovering oil prices still pointed to all local fuel prices going down in September.
However, in addition to the increased retail margin, the combined cumulative petrol and diesel slate balances at the end of July 2021 amounted to a negative balance of R1.7 billion.
Due to the slate levy’s self-adjusting mechanism, an increase of 8.78c/l to reach a total levy of 15.36c/l will be implemented into the pricing structures of both petrol and diesel from 1 September 2021.
Below are the inland fuel prices that will take effect on 1 September 2021.
- Petrol 93 – R18.15
- Petrol 95 – R18.34
- Diesel 0.05% (wholesale) – R15.49
- Diesel 0.005% (wholesale) – R15.52
- Illuminating Paraffin – R9.45
Keyword: Increase in fuel levy to pay for petrol pump attendant salaries