South African diesel vehicle owners could be thrown some New Year cheer with prices expected to drop in early January.
However, the news is not as rosy for petrol drivers.
As things currently stand, the diesel price is set to decrease by between 63 and 65 cents per litre, while petrol may rise at the pumps by around 7 to 9 cents per litre.
Diesel drivers were hit hard in the most recent round of fuel adjustments earlier this month when prices increased by between 65 (diesel 0.05%) and 82 (diesel 0.005%) cents per litre.
Meanwhile, petrol car owners saw a 29 cents per litre hike.
The projections come from the Central Energy Fund (CEF), which tracks daily fuel price movements and under-recoveries in the local pricing system.
Below, the latest projections as received by The South African website from the Central Energy Fund (CEF):
| FUEL | PRICE CHANGE |
| Petrol 93 | increase of 9 cents |
| Petrol 95 | increase of 7 cents |
| Diesel 0.05% | decrease of 63 cents |
| Diesel 0.005% | decrease of 65 cents |
| Illuminating Paraffin | decrease of 40 cents |
If the market conditions were to remain consistent for the remainder of the month – an unlikely scenario with the rand/dollar exchange rate fluctuating and the oil price ever changing – an increase of 9 cents is expected for petrol 93 octane motorists and an increase of 7 cents for 95 users.
Meanwhile, diesel motorists would see something between a 63 and 65 cents per litre decrease.
Finally, illuminating paraffin is expected to drop by 40 cents in price.
FUEL PRICE IN SOUTH AFRICA IMPACTED BY TWO MAIN FACTORS:
1. The international price of petroleum products, driven mainly by oil prices
2. The rand/dollar exchange rate used in the purchase of these products
Oil price
At the time of publishing the brent crude oil price is $62.34a barrel.
Exchange rate
At the time of publishing the rand/dollar exchange rate is R17.03/$.
The final overall price changes for both petrol and diesel will be confirmed later in the month with the new prices taking effect at midnight on Tuesday, 6 January.
The December 2025 petrol and diesel prices (Inland and Coastal):
| INLAND | December |
| Petrol 93 | R21.26 |
| Petrol 95 | R21.41 |
| Diesel 0.05% | R19.78 |
| Diesel 0.005% | R20.02 |
| Illuminating Paraffin | R13.72 |
| COASTAL | December |
| Petrol 93 | R20.47 |
| Petrol 95 | R20.58 |
| Diesel 0.05% | R18.95 |
| Diesel 0.005% | R19.26 |
| Illuminating Paraffin | R12.71 |
