Hefty petrol, diesel price increases announced for May, despite fuel levy cuts
From Polity Audio Articles by Polity
May 4, 2026 · 4 min · Episode 45
About this episode
The episode discusses significant increases in petrol and diesel prices for May despite cuts in fuel levies due to ongoing global conflicts affecting oil prices.
Hefty petrol, diesel price increases announced for May, despite fuel levy cuts Despite the National Treasury and the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources' (DMPR's) decision to extend the cut in the fuel levies for petrol and diesel for May, hefty increases of R3.27 a litre for petrol and R6.19 a litre for diesel will be implemented from May 6 as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to impact on global oil prices and domestic fuel prices. In a May 4 media release, the DMPR points out that the increases are the result of local and international factors, such as an increase in the average Brent crude oil price. Owing to the ongoing US-Iran conflict, Treasury and the DMPR last week announced a further temporary reduction in the general fuel levy of R3 a litre to be implemented in the price structures of petrol and R3.93 a litre for diesel from May 6 to June 2. For the month of June, the level of relief is expected to be halved to R1.50 a litre for petrol and R1.96 a litre for diesel, effective from June 3 to June 30. As previously reported, this will increase the general fuel levy for petrol from R1.10 a litre to R2.60 a litre and increase the general fuel levy…
Topics covered
- fuel price increases
- petrol prices
- diesel prices
- fuel levy cuts
- global oil prices
- US-Iran conflict
Keywords
- petrol price
- diesel price
- fuel levy
- Brent crude oil
- Middle East conflict
- Treasury
- DMPR
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: National Treasury, Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources
Places: Middle East
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