By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) has announced the official fuel price adjustments that will take effect on Wednesday, 2 September 2026.
Both petrol and diesel drivers will both be feeling pain from Wednesday, with petrol prices increasing by R1.34 per litre and diesel by between R2.94 and R3.15.
Illuminating paraffin will increase by R2.13 a litre at wholesale level, while the single maximum national retail price for illuminating paraffin will rise by R2.84 a litre.
The maximum retail price of LPGas will increase by 69 cents per kilogram nationally and by 79 cents per kilogram in the Western Cape.
The big disruptor remains the US-Iran War, which saw escalation in August, pushing prices above $90 a barrel. However, the Russia-Ukraine War also exacerbated supply disruptions from that region.
The average Brent Crude oil price increased from 82.37 US Dollars (USD) to 87.88 USD during the period under review.
The Rand appreciated on average against the US Dollar (from 16.46 to 16.21 Rand per USD) during the period under review when compared to the previous one.
This led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices of petrol, diesel and Illuminating Paraffin by 21.07 c/l, 29.06 c/l and 26.69 c/l, respectively.
The cumulative slate amounted to a negative balance of R9.519 billion for petrol and diesel of at the end of July 2026.
In line with the provisions of the Self-Adjusting Slate Levy Mechanism, the slate levy of 83.28 c/l will be implemented in the price structures of petrol and diesel with effect from the 2nd of September 2026.
The Slate Levy has increased by 21.90 c/l from 61.38 to 83.28 c/l.
The Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has approved a 4.9 c/l increase (from 315.1 c/l to 320.0 c/l), in the price structures of petrol.
This is to accommodate the wage increase for Forecourt employees, in line with the Motor Industry Bargaining Council (MIBCO) multi-year Wage Settlement Agreement signed on the 23rd of August 2025.