- R26.63 a litre. South Africa Is Bleeding at the Pump — and It Has Nothing to Do with the Middle East
- South Africans face record fuel prices as levies, global shocks, and a R14.2bn Slate debt deepen the cost-of-living crisis.
The war in the Middle East makes for a tidy headline. It travels well, fits neatly into the evening news, and gives the climbing numbers at the pump a face we can point at. But strip back the geopolitics and the harder truth sits much closer to home.
This is according to the Head of National Debt Advisors, Sebastien Alexanderson, who said at every pump, South Africans are paying for more than petrol.
“Every South African filling up their tank is not just paying for oil from the Persian Gulf,” Alexanderson says. “They’re paying for government debt, broken infrastructure, and decades of fiscal decisions that left consumers completely exposed.”
From Wednesday, 6 May, petrol 95 rose to R26.63 per litre inland, while diesel crossed R30 for the first time, reaching R31.18. Alexanderson said while global oil shocks matter, local costs are making the blow far worse.
Alexanderson said before a litre reaches the pump, motorists are already paying the General Fuel Levy, the Road Accident Fund levy, carbon costs, transport margins, and now the Slate Levy. “At the full unsubsidised rate returning in July, a 50-litre tank will send R317.50 to government before the car has even moved,” said Alexanderson.
The latest hidden hit is the R1.23-per-litre Slate Levy, introduced to recover a R14.173 billion negative balance. Alexanderson says this is the part many consumers did not see coming. “It is not an oil-price increase, but debt collection through the pump.”
The Road Accident Fund crisis further exposes the cracks. Treasury projected that the RAF’s liabilities will climb from R387 billion to R426 billion by 2028/29, against just R45 billion a year in levy income — a gap parliament’s public-accounts committee has called insolvency. Motorists pay R2.25 per litre into a fund whose claims backlog has passed 440,000.
“South Africa’s fuel crisis is also being worsened by structural failures: a financially broken RAF, a General Fuel Levy that does not directly fund roads, an import-parity pricing model that overcharges consumers, and no meaningful strategic fuel reserve to cushion global shocks,” said Alexanderson.
The pressure is already changing behaviour. Fuel spending fell 35% in April, while filling-station transactions dropped 28%. For households, this means tighter budgets and harder choices.
Alexanderson warns the impact will not stop at petrol stations. “When fuel goes up, it costs you at the pump, at the till, in your taxi fare, and in your interest repayments when inflation forces rate hikes. This is not just a fuel price crisis. It is a cost-of-living catastrophe.”
Government’s temporary R3-per-litre levy cut has softened the blow, but Alexanderson says it is only a band-aid. “The relief ends in June, and the full General Fuel Levy is set to return in July unless government intervenes again,” said Alexanderson.
His advice to consumers is simple: act before the pressure becomes unmanageable.
- Redo your budget immediately using higher fuel, food, and transport costs.
- Prioritise essentials first: housing, food, electricity, transport, school costs, and insurance.
- Cut non-essential spending early, including subscriptions, takeaways, and unnecessary trips.
- Avoid using credit for basics like fuel and groceries, as this can deepen debt quickly.
- Seek help before missing payments if debt repayments are already becoming unaffordable.
“If fuel, food, and debt repayments are rising while income stays the same, that is a red flag,” says Alexanderson. “People need to assess their debt situation now, not when they are already drowning.”
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Author: Omega Ngema from Financial Wealth Holdings on behalf of National Debt Advisors.
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