By South Africans will once again have to dig deeper into their pockets as the Minister for the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy Mr Gwede Mantashe announced another price hike on fuel effective from 7 February.
The household food basket in South Africa is shrinking by the day with fuel prices skyrocketing; life is getting more and more expensive. Mantashe explained that, the price hike is due to the oil cargoes attacks in the Middle-East, especially in the Red Sea as a result; shipping rates increased as ships are rerouted from the Middle East (Suez Canal) to Europe, using the longer and more expensive route around Africa since they cannot import from Russia.
Mantashe also said average Brent Crude oil price increased from 77.35 US Dollars (USD) to 82.03 USD during the period under review.
The Rand’s performance also played a role in the increase of fuel prices. According to the Minister, the Rand depreciated slightly on average, against the US Dollar (from 18.66 to 18.77 Rand per USD) during the period under review when compared to the previous one.
Fuel prices increased as follows:
Petrol (both 93 and 95 ULP & LRP): Seventy-five cents per litre (75.00 c/l) increase.
Diesel (0.05% sulphur): Seventy-three cents per litre (73.00 c/l) increase.
Diesel (0.005% sulphur): Seventy cents per litre (70.00 c/l) increase.
Illuminating Paraffin (wholesale): Firty-three cents per litre (53.00 c/l) increase.
SMNRP for IP: Seventy-one cents per litre (71.00 c/l) increase.
Maximum LPGas Retail Price: Thirty-seven cents per kilogram (37.00 c/kg) increase.
