Inland petrol passes R30 a litre on Wednesday after a R3.33 October hike
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources announced the October fuel price changes, effective Wednesday 7 October (IOL, Carmag, SAnews, BusinessTech, SA People). Petrol 95 rises R3.33 a litre and petrol 93 rises R3.12. Inland 95 petrol moves to R30.25 a litre and the coastal price to R29.38. Wholesale 0.05% diesel rises R2.84 and 0.005% diesel rises R3.24 (one outlet reported R3.58). The department blamed an average Brent rise from US$87.89 to US$101 a barrel, plus shipping costs and lower global stocks. The Self-Adjusting Slate Levy increases to 87.66 cents a litre from 83.28 cents.
Fuel feeds into almost every price in a country that moves most goods by road. Food, taxis and delivery costs follow with a lag, and the increase arrives four weeks before local elections, which makes cost of living a campaign issue.
If you drive, a 50-litre tank of 95 will cost roughly R165 more from Wednesday, on the reported figures. Fill up on Tuesday if you can. Expect taxi fares and delivery fees to creep up over the next few weeks.
Government says the rise follows global oil prices and the Strait of Hormuz disruption, which it cannot control, and the slate levy only smooths what would otherwise be sharper moves.
Critics note that the general fuel levy, the Road Accident Fund levy and the carbon levy still make up over R6 of each litre of petrol, so the state could cushion the blow if it chose to.
Watch the mid-October data from the Central Energy Fund. If Brent stays near US$100 and the rand holds around R16.60, November brings another rise. If Hormuz news improves, that could flip quickly. DailyDrop will report the first read-out when it appears.
DailyDrop South Africa edition No. 1 · Morning · MON., OCT. 5, 2026