Relief at the pumps this August

Source: Magnific

In a statement on Monday, 3 August, the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, announced the adjustment of fuel prices based on current local and international factors with effect from 5 August 2026.

From Wednesday, 5 August, a litre of 95 and 93 (LRP and ULP) will come down by 52c a litre.

This means that a litre of 95 petrol, which currently costs R26.10 in Gauteng, will now cost R25.58 a litre as of Wednesday. In the coast, a litre of 95, which costs R25.23 a litre, will cost R24.71 a litre as of Wednesday, 5 August.

The price of Diesel (0.05% sulphur) will increase by R 1.38 per litre while the price of Diesel (0.005% sulphur) will increase by R1.23 per litre.

The price of Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale) will increase by R1.52 cents a litre.

Meanwhile, the Single Maximum National Retail Price for Illuminating Paraffin will increase by R2.03, and the Maximum Retail Price of LPGas will decrease by R4.41c per kilogram and R5.03 in the Western Cape.

"The average Brent Crude oil price decreased from $86.53 to $82.37 during the period under review. The impact of renewed US/Iran tensions which caused the price to increase up to a $100 mark, was offset by the fact that the prices had already decreased significantly the previous month and the first half of this month due to the ceasefire MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the US and Iran as well as lower global demand for crude oil,” said the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources.

In addition, the department said the average international product prices of petrol decreased during the period under review, while the prices of diesel and illuminating paraffin increased due to supply shortages caused by the Russia/Ukraine conflict, which resulted in diesel export restrictions by Russia.

“The situation was compounded by the Middle East Refineries that were operating below capacity,” said the department, adding that these factors led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Prices (BFP) of petrol.