7 October 2026

The ANC Study Group on Minerals and Petroleum Resources notes with deep concern the fuel price increases of around R3 per litre announced by the Department, with effect from Wednesday, 7 October 2026. We recognise that the increase is driven largely by factors beyond our borders. While global prices are outside government’s control, the taxes and levies within the fuel price are not.

This is not just a fuel price issue. It is a cost-of-living crisis. South Africans will pay more to get to work, food will cost more, and poor households that rely on paraffin will be hit hardest.

As the ANC Study Group on MPR, we therefore call on the National Treasury to urgently reconsider the fuel levies and taxes, including the General Fuel Levy and the Road Accident Fund Levy, to provide immediate relief to workers, commuters and households.

Government has done this before, when the General Fuel Levy was temporarily reduced in 2022 in response to a similar spike in international oil prices, and again earlier this year. We acknowledge that the relief we are seeking is only temporary in nature, and that the lasting answer lies in reducing the country’s dependence on imported refined fuel. The shutdown of a number of domestic refineries in recent years has left South Africa reliant on imports for the greater share of its fuel, and therefore fully exposed to international supply disruptions and shipping costs.

We have always maintained a resolute position in the building of domestic refinery capacity, and our support for the SANPC and the SANPC Bill reflects that. The business case of the SANPC plans to strengthen the domestic refinery capacity and will be the long-term solution to our country’s import dependency. We therefore call on the Central Energy Fund and the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources to fast-track the processes to re-establish our domestic refining capacity working together with the SANPC.

As the ANC Study Group, we trust that international oil prices will ease and that the rand will strengthen over the coming weeks, so that motorists and households get relief in the November adjustment. We will continue to exercise oversight over the fuel price regime and the security of liquid fuel supply in the interests of the working class.

Issued by the ANC Study Group on Minerals and Petroleum Resources

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