Pretoria | Tuesday
SOUTH Africans will have to fasten their seatbelts for the single highest increase in the retail petrol price in the past two years and pay 29c more for every litre from Wednesday, the Department of Minerals and Energy said on Monday.
The wholesale price of diesel would surge by 26c/litre and that of illuminating paraffin by 11c/litre, the department’s deputy director-general Dr Rod Crompton told journalists at a filling station in Pretoria.
During the review period from March 26 to April 19 — when different factors were weighed up to determine the new prices — the international crude oil price first surged to about $28 (about R296) per barrel, then decreased by about $5 (nearly R53) and increased again with about $3 (R31,76), the department said in a statement.
The strengthening of the rand against the United States dollar cushioned the fuel price by about four cents per litre, it said.
Another measure that would save about 1,8c/litre in the fuel price from Wednesday was the new wharfage tariff of the National Port Authority of South Africa.
Crompton also announced that the government was revising the formula according to which fuel prices were calculated.
The National Economic Forum, the predecessor of the National Economic, Development and Labour Council, had agreed on the current formula in 1995.
He said South Africa’s pricing was largely Singapore-based, but the Mediterranean prices were being considered.
Crompton pointed out that the government had no control over the international crude oil price or the rand/dollar exchange rate, the two main factors determining South Africa’s fuel prices.
”We are price-takers, not price-makers.”
However, he told consumers: ”Your petrol bill is under your control…
”Some people do not know that driving with flat tyres result in using more petrol.”
The same applied to driving with all windows open or not servicing one’s car regularly, Crompton said.
He said it was impossible to predict whether there was any price relief in sight for fuel consumers.
The government is not subsidising the prices at present.
However, it had embarked on an effort to reduce the cost of energy especially for low-income families, Crompton said.
After briefing reporters, he and other department officials, wearing petrol attendants’ uniforms, handed out pamphlets to motorists telling them how to save fuel and explaining what lay behind the petrol price. – Sapa