Fuel levy cut takes R1.50 off petrol and R3 off diesel from 4 November

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana said on Wednesday that the general fuel levy will fall by R1.50 a litre on petrol and R3 on diesel from 4 November 2026.

He announced the cut in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament. The larger cut runs until 1 December. After that the petrol levy comes down by R1 a litre and the diesel levy by R1.50 until 5 January 2027, according to the speech text published on gov.za.

Treasury puts the support at R10 billion, matched by R10 billion of foregone revenue. To pay for it, the R10 billion that was moved to the Central Energy Fund will go back to the National Revenue Fund and into the Contingency Reserve. The money came through a R10 billion appropriation bill that was still waiting for a National Assembly vote last week.

“This intervention will help ease cost of living pressures without compromising the sustainability of the budget,” Godongwana said.

Fuel has been a large part of recent price pressure. Statistics South Africa reported that consumer inflation rose to 4.5% in September with transport the largest contributor at 1.5 percentage points. SAnews, the government news agency, put 95 petrol at R30.25 a litre inland and R29.38 at the coast on the day of the speech, and tied the increases to higher Brent crude prices after conflict in the Middle East.

The relief takes effect on 4 November, the first Wednesday of the month, which is the day the regulated fuel price is adjusted each month. The speech did not give the new pump prices. The monthly adjustment from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources will set them.

The South African Revenue Service said in a statement on Wednesday that its revenue outlook excludes the relief. SARS Commissioner Johnstone Makhubu welcomed the revised 2026/27 gross tax revenue estimate of R2.144 trillion, R17.1 billion above the February Budget figure. Treasury’s speech gave the same R17.1 billion increase, and said the budget deficit will narrow to 3.9% of GDP this year, against the 4.0% forecast in February.

The statement also lowered the 2026 growth forecast to 1.2% from 1.6%. Godongwana said lower global growth and a prolonged conflict in the Middle East are among the risks to the outlook.

The relief ends on 5 January 2027, a day before the first Wednesday of 2027, 6 January, when the next monthly fuel price adjustment falls due.