South Africans are taking body blows left, right and centre at the moment with load shedding and an imminent fuel price hike adding to their misery.
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Eskom confirmed on Friday that load shedding was back after a near 11-month absence while the latest data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) suggested a big petrol and diesel price hike early next week was now a certainty.
Stage 3 load shedding kicked in at 17:00 on Friday an will continue until the end of the weekend – or until further notice.
Meanwhile, in recent weeks the rand has weakened even further against the dollar, suggesting that South Africa’s motorists are guaranteed to be greeted by bad news next month.
Below, the latest projections as received by The South African website from the Central Energy Fund (CEF), effective Thursday, 30 January.
| FUEL | PRICE CHANGE |
| Petrol 93 | increase of 90 cents |
| Petrol 95 | increase of 83 cents |
| Diesel 0.05% | increase of 106 cents |
| Diesel 0.005% | increase of 101 cents |
| Illuminating Paraffin | increase of 97 cents |
If the market conditions were to remain consistent for the remainder of the month – an unlikely scenario with the rand/dollar exchange rate fluctuating and the oil price ever changing – an increase of 90 cents is expected for petrol 93 octane motorists and an increase of 83 cents for 95 users.
Meanwhile, diesel motorists would see something between a 101 and 106 cents per litre increase.
Finally, illuminating paraffin is expected to increase by 97 cents.
FUEL PRICE IN SOUTH AFRICA IMPACTED BY TWO MAIN FACTORS:
1. The international price of petroleum products, driven mainly by oil prices
2. The rand/dollar exchange rate used in the purchase of these products
Oil price
At the time of publishing the brent crude oil price is $75.54 a barrel.
Exchange rate
At the time of publishing the rand/dollar exchange rate is R18.61/$.
The final overall price changes for both petrol and diesel will be confirmed early next month with the new prices taking effect at midnight on Tuesday, 4 February 2025.
Go easy on the accelerator until then, Mzansi.
The current January 2025 petrol and diesel prices (Inland and Coastal):
| INLAND | January |
| Petrol 93 | R21.34 |
| Petrol 95 | R21.59 |
| Diesel 0.05% | R19.29 |
| Diesel 0.005% | R19.44 |
| Illuminating Paraffin | R13.26 |
| COASTAL | January |
| Petrol 93 | R20.55 |
| Petrol 95 | R20.80 |
| Diesel 0.05% | R18.50 |
| Diesel 0.005% | R18.68 |
| Illuminating Paraffin | R12.26 |
Do you know of any useful ways to help save on fuel prices?
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