Massive fuel hike expected next month
A massive fuel price hike is expected next month with petrol set to increase by around 99 cents a litre and diesel and illuminating paraffin by R1.42 a litre.
The Automobile Association says the hikes in diesel and illuminating paraffin would be the largest in South African history, bearing in mind that this is only based on half a month’s data.
The AA says R20 a litre for petrol is now a realistic scenario before the end of the year and that it sees little hope of improvement before the end of October.
“Brent Crude has broken through the 85 US dollars per barrel mark and the basket of oil prices used to calculate South Africa’s oil price are following Brent higher,” says AA spokesperson Layton Beard.
The Association says it does not expect the oil price squeeze to ease in the short term, especially as the demand for oil will increase as the north enters its winter season.
The AA further notes that over the first half of October, the average Rand/US dollar exchange rate jumped from around R14.55 to the dollar to R14.90 which is not helping matters either.
“South Africans are paying at the pumps for weak governance, as one of the key indicators of the price of fuel depends on the exchange rate,” concluded Beard.
