South Africans could be paying anywhere between R241 to R488 less per tank of fuel if taxes and levies were removed.

Taxes and levies on local fuels currently account for between R6.04 and R6.18 per litre sold in the country, depending on the grade and type.

In May 2023, these tariffs are currently made up of the following:

  • Slate levy
  • IP Trace levy
  • General fuel levy
  • Road accident fund levy
  • Petroleum products levy
  • Customs and excise duties

The two largest ones which collectively account for over 99% of all taxes on fuel are the General Fuel Levy (GFL) and Road Accident Fund (RAF) Levy – the former being allocated to National Treasury for the government to use in any manner it sees fit, while the latter may only be utilised for road accident claims paid out by the RAF.

With the continually rising cost of fuel in the country over the past three years, these levies have come under scrutiny from motorists and industry participants as they are large contributors to high prices at the pumps.

In response to pressure from the public, government has agreed to do everything from reviewing how industry margins are calculated, to going so far as to potentially deregulate petrol 93 and not raising taxes for 2023 except for a 1.0c/l hike to the GFL.

However, voices such as those of Liquid Fuel Wholesalers Association CEO Peter Morgan have called on the ruling authorities to review and where possible cut down on taxes and levies imposed on fuel, rather than deregulating the most affordable grade of petrol while the other fuels keep following the current status quo.

What if

To see what motorists can save at the pumps if taxes and levies were not ever-present, we took the average tank size of five popular vehicles in each major segment and calculated what it will cost to refuel it with and without the tariffs.

The fuel type used for the comparison was petrol 95, which in May is priced at R23.34 per litre at inland rates

The savings are detailed in the following table:

Body shape Ave. tank size With taxes Without taxes Diff.
Bakkie 79 litres R1,844 R1,355 R488
SUV 65 litres R1,517 R1,115 R402
MPV 56 litres R1,307 R961 R346
Sedan 52 litres R1,214 R892 R322
Crossover 47 litres R1,097 R806 R291
Hatchback 39 litres R910 R669 R241

Keyword: South Africans could be paying R488 less for a tank of petrol

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