Photo: Unsplash / Bruchin Noeka
Photo: Unsplash / Bruchin Noeka
The motorists of Mzansi have bene blitzed by a soaring petrol price since lockdown began to ease, and August will also bring another increase. Following an oil crash in April, the resurgence of the market has brought our fuel costs back to the extortionate levels we experienced before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figures from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) and their mid-month forecast reveal that another 34 cents per litre will be added to our petrol price, and diesel consumers are set to be hit with a 68-cent increase as well.
Over the next 15 days, the price could fluctuate, but it’s still highly likely that South Africa will experience its third consecutive fuel hike. The epic decreases saw during our hard lockdown have officially been wiped out.
For once, we can’t actually blame the rand for this one. ZAR is one of the two major factors that decide how our petrol price will behave for the month ahead. Despite a great performance against the US dollar – to which it is trading at just over R16.60 – the surge in demand for crude oil has put South Africa to the sword.
Our country is heavily reliant on oil imports and, therefore, when the global economy shifts, the local market tends to mirror its behaviour. The price of fuel has spiked, canceling out any gains made by the rand.
Taking these forecasts and first estimates into account, here’s what you can expect to pay for fuel (price-per-litre) from the first week of August onwards. However, we have to stress that these mid-month estimates are liable to change by the time the Department of Energy set next month’s costs in stone.