6 October 2026 · Reporting checked against the current sources listed below.
South Africa is heading into Wednesday with a new fuel-price threshold: inland 95-octane petrol will cost R30.25 a litre from 7 October, after the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources confirmed an increase of R3.33 a litre.
Petrol 93 rises by R3.12 a litre, while wholesale diesel increases by R2.84 for 0.05% sulphur and R3.24 for 0.005% sulphur. The increases are unusually large even by the volatile standards of 2026 and will feed into transport, food-distribution and household costs.
The department said average Brent crude rose from $87.89 to $101 a barrel during the review period, citing continued US-Iran tensions, uncertainty around oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, higher shipping costs and declining inventories. The rand offered almost no offset during the review period.
The slate levy also rises to 87.66 cents a litre after the cumulative petrol-and-diesel slate balance ended August R10.45 billion in the red. That mechanism is designed to reconcile timing differences between daily international fuel costs and South Africa’s monthly regulated prices.
The result is a psychologically significant milestone for motorists: inland 95 petrol moves above R30 a litre. For businesses that depend on road freight, diesel is an equally important pressure point, because higher wholesale prices can flow through logistics chains long after the pump-price headline fades.
