The massive price fuel increases announced by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) on Friday will have a sharp and immediate effect on the poor and a long-term impact on inflation.
This was the warning from the Automobile Association (AA), which said the latest increases were above expectations and would hurt all consumers.
Fuel prices across the board will be adjusted at midnight on Tuesday.
Both grades of petrol will increase by R1.46/litre, diesel will increase between R1.44/l and R1.48/l and illuminating paraffin will increase by R1.21/l.
For the first time in history, 95 octane petrol inland will rise above R21 a litre, and by a significant margin.
As of Wednesday, fuel will cost R21.60/l while at the coast it will cost R20.88/l, the first time it has breached the R20/l level.
The price of illuminating paraffin will also rise to new highs of R13.18/l inland and R12.36/l at the coast.
Illuminating paraffin, used extensively in poorer communities for heating, cooking and lighting, will be in higher demand as the country moves from summer into autumn over the next few weeks.
“These increases will certainly impact on every single South African, given the reliance the country has on fuels for transportation, manufacturing and in the agricultural sector,” the AA said.
The increases for March are mainly attributable to rising international petroleum prices as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and would have been more severe had the rand not stabilised against the US dollar in the last few weeks.
The rand showed positive movement against the US currency and shaved some negativity off the final adjusted prices.
The AA said the outlook for April remained unclear but Russia’s military action in Ukraine could push international oil prices higher, which will again impact local prices.
“For now, it’s a question of wait and see how these prices move in the next few weeks.
“One silver lining, though, is that any potential increases will not be combined with increases to fuel taxes as the Minister of Finance earlier this week announced the General Fuel and Road Accident Fund levies would not increase this year.
“This is good news, but must be tempered by what happens in the next few weeks to the overall pricing of fuel,” the AA said.
