What this page covers
The petrol price is regulated and changes on the first Wednesday of each month. Roughly a third of it is tax, which is why the pump price moves less than the oil price does.
| Component | Approximate share | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| Basic fuel price | About 50% | International product price and the rand |
| General fuel levy | About 18% | National Treasury |
| Road Accident Fund levy | About 10% | National Treasury |
| Wholesale and retail margin | About 15% | Department of Mineral Resources and Energy |
| Transport and storage | About 5% | Regulated |
| Carbon and other levies | About 2% | National Treasury |
| Levy | Petrol | Diesel |
|---|---|---|
| General fuel levy | R4.10 per litre | R3.93 per litre |
| Road Accident Fund levy | R2.25 per litre | R2.25 per litre |
| Carbon fuel levy | 19c per litre | 23c per litre |
| Total tax component | About R6.54 | About R6.41 |
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly, effective the first Wednesday |
| Basis | Average international product price over the preceding month |
| Currency | The average rand-dollar rate over the same period |
| Petrol | Price regulated at the pump, inland and coastal differ |
| Diesel | Wholesale price regulated, retail price not |
| Slate levy | Recovers the gap between the regulated and actual price |
Download this data
Every table on this page as a spreadsheet, with the source and the date it was checked in the header rows.
⬇ Download CSVHow these figures work
The figures on this page come from the body that publishes them and change on a schedule rather than continuously, which is what makes them worth keeping in one place. Because the price is set on a month of past data, a spike in the oil price today shows up at the pump next month rather than now.
Diesel is not price-regulated at the pump, which is why the same station can charge different diesel prices in different weeks while petrol is fixed.
★ What this means in practice
The carbon tax rose to R308 per tonne of CO2 equivalent from 1 January 2026, which feeds into the carbon fuel levy.
✕ Common mistakes
- Because the price is set on a month of past data, a spike in the oil pri. Because the price is set on a month of past data, a spike in the oil price today shows up at the pump next month rather than now.
- Diesel is not price-regulated at the pump, which is why the same station. Diesel is not price-regulated at the pump, which is why the same station can charge different diesel prices in different weeks while petrol is fixed.
- The carbon tax rose to R308 per tonne of CO2 equivalent from 1 January 2. The carbon tax rose to R308 per tonne of CO2 equivalent from 1 January 2026, which feeds into the carbon fuel levy.
- Taking a figure without its date. A number from a reference page is only as good as when it was last checked, which is why the date sits at the top of this one.
Notes on reading these figures
- Because the price is set on a month of past data, a spike in the oil price today shows up at the pump next month rather than now.
- Diesel is not price-regulated at the pump, which is why the same station can charge different diesel prices in different weeks while petrol is fixed.
- The carbon tax rose to R308 per tonne of CO2 equivalent from 1 January 2026, which feeds into the carbon fuel levy.
To put these figures to work, The South African Inflation History runs the arithmetic on your own numbers; Inflation Calculator covers the same ground in ordinary language; How oil trading works for SA traders goes into the detail this table only summarises; Rand Exchange Rate History is the related figure worth reading beside it; and SARB Repo Rate History covers what this page leaves out.
Put this table on your own site
The table below can sit on your own page and stays current without you editing anything.
- Preview the embeddable table as it will appear on your site
Add the code below to your own site. The table it renders is served from here, so it never goes stale.
<iframe src="https://www.tradeanswers.co.za/embed/ref-south-african-fuel-price-levies.html" width="100%" height="620" style="border:0" title="South African Fuel Price and Levies"></iframe>Free to use with attribution. The link back to this page is built into the embed.
Terms used on this page
Frequently asked questions
How much of the petrol price is tax?
About R6.54 a litre on petrol, between the general fuel levy, the RAF levy and the carbon levy. That is roughly a third of the pump price.
When does the price change?
On the first Wednesday of each month, based on the average of the preceding month.
Why does the pump price lag the oil price?
Because it is set on a month of past data. A spike today shows up next month.
Is diesel price regulated?
Only at wholesale. The retail diesel price is not regulated, which is why stations differ.
What is the slate levy?
A mechanism that recovers the gap between the regulated price and what the product actually cost.
What changed in 2026?
The general fuel levy is R4.10 a litre on petrol and R3.93 on diesel, and carbon tax rose to R308 a tonne from 1 January.