South Africa’s petrol price could be R14.60 per litre

South African motorists would pay R14.6 per litre for 93 octane petrol and R12.89 per litre of 0.05% diesel if taxes were not levied on fuel. 

Taxes levied on fuel sales are one of the main drivers behind why South Africa’s petrol and diesel are so expensive in the country. 

National Treasury data shows that South Africans pay R6.37 in tax for every litre of 93 octane petrol and R6.24 per litre of diesel. This means that nearly a third of the price of fuel in South Africa is made up by taxes. 

Fuel taxes are incredibly lucrative for the government, as they are relatively easy to administer and spread out across millions of motorists. 

This crucially makes fuel taxes one of the few broad-based taxes in South Africa, with personal income tax and corporate income tax being highly concentrated among a small share of individuals and companies. 

Because of this, these taxes, particularly the General Fuel Levy (GFL), have become effective levers for the government to raise much-needed revenue.

The revenue from the GFL, intended to be used to maintain road infrastructure, has increasingly been used to prop up the government’s ailing financial health. 

The next largest levy is the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy, which is used to fund the RAF. This fund is technically insolvent with liabilities of over R500 billion. 

The result of this financial mismanagement has been the sharp rise in taxes levied on fuel, with all rising at a rate far above headline inflation. 

The GFL, for example, has shot up by 57.25% since 2015, while the RAF levy has surged by 41.56%. The customs and excise duty has remained unchanged. 

Earlier this year, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced the first increase to the GFL in three years to help the government make up for the revenue lost from its abandoned VAT increase. 

This is the latest example of the government using the GFL to boost its financial health, rather than for its intended purpose. 

Road Freight Association CEO Gavin Kelly said fuel levies are a soft target for the government, which is coming under increasing financial pressure. 

“Using the fuel levy is one of the easiest methods of raising revenue. It is a large base of taxpayers across which the increase can be spread,” Kelly said.

“If you increase the levy by a few cents, you then spread the so-called base on which you tax across millions of South Africans.” 

“However, the problem is that this has become a very easy lever for the government just to find funds that they cannot find anywhere else.” 

“The real issue here is that the government needs to cut its spending, not just find easier avenues to generate revenue.”

The table below provides a breakdown of all the tax collected per litre of petrol, using the latest fuel prices as of November 2025.

Real reasons why petrol costs so much

Rising fuel taxes are one of the main reasons why petrol prices have skyrocketed from R4 in 2004 to R20.97 in November 2025. 

The increase in fuel taxes becomes a more prevalent reason when one zooms out to see that oil prices have been flat over the past decade, which is when the steepest rises in fuel prices have occurred. 

South Africa’s petrol price is made up of two main components – the Basic Fuel Price and administered elements, which include fuel taxes. 

The Basic Fuel price is made up of the international price of oil and the rand-dollar exchange rate, meaning it basically tracks the cost of importing fuel into South Africa. 

Administered elements are largely made up of the taxes levied on fuel and various other components, such as retail margins, transport costs, and wholesale margins. 

These administered elements have risen strongly over the past decade, accounting for more of the rise in the price of fuel since 2015 than the Basic Fuel Price. 

Of all these elements, the wholesale margin is the only one to have increased at a rate below inflation since 2013, with the rest significantly outpacing it. 

For example, the RAF levy has risen by 41.56% in real terms over the past decade, with the retail margin and transport cost rising by 40% and 49%, respectively. 

The GFL, more commonly known as the fuel tax, has risen by 57.25% over the past decade.

Another major driver behind the rise in the price of fuel has been the steady weakening of the rand, which has made it more expensive to import petroleum products into South Africa. 

The rand has consistently weakened by around 5% each year versus the dollar, due to South Africa’s weak economic growth and inflation differential to the United States. 

South Africa’s headline inflation is typically higher than that of developed countries, including the United States, requiring a degree of currency depreciation to ensure exports remain competitive. 

As inflation increases the cost of producing goods, it makes them less attractive for export. To counteract this, a currency is weakened to make the country’s exporters relatively cheaper in the global marketplace.