The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has announced a decrease in petrol prices for motorists, while diesel users will have to dig deeper into their pockets from 3 August 2026.
This marks the second consecutive decrease in petrol prices, while diesel and illuminating paraffin have recorded their first increases.
“Both grades of petrol will decrease by 52 cents per litre.
“Diesel will increase by R1.23 and R1.38 per litre.
“Illuminating paraffin will increase by 2 cents and 3 cents per litre at the retail level.
“The maximum retail price of LP Gas will decrease by R4.41 per kilogramme countrywide and by R5.33 per kilogramme in Saldanha, Western Cape,” said department spokesperson Robert Maake.
Maake said several factors, including crude oil prices, international petroleum product prices, the rand/US dollar exchange rate and the implementation of the slate levy, contributed to the fuel price adjustments.
“The impact of renewed US-Iran tensions, which caused crude oil prices to rise to around the US$100 mark, was offset by the fact that prices had already declined significantly during the previous month and the first half of this month following the ceasefire memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, as well as lower global demand for crude oil.
“The average Brent crude oil price decreased during the period under review,” explained Maake.
However, he noted that the prices of diesel and illuminating paraffin increased because of supply shortages caused by the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which resulted in export restrictions imposed by Russia.
