South Africa’s April 2026 fuel story is, for now, a forecast story rather than a finished one. As of Saturday, 28 March 2026, the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources fuel-prices page was still showing the March 2026 schedule, not a final April ministerial adjustment, so the numbers below should be read as the latest evidence-based guide to where petrol and diesel are heading rather than the final regulated pump-price notice.
What makes this month different is the scale. The latest CEF daily basic fuel price snapshot dated 26 March 2026 shows average month-to-date under-recoveries of about 531.487 c/l for Petrol 93, 581.985 c/l for Petrol 95, 1,012.925 c/l for Diesel 0.05%, and 1,026.821 c/l for Diesel 0.005% for the pricing period then in progress. In plain English, that points to a provisional move of roughly R5.31 to R5.82 per litre on petrol and about R10.13 to R10.27 per litre on diesel, before any final month-end adjustments are locked in.
There is another layer to this: taxes and levies. National Treasury’s 2026 Budget documents and SARS’s budget FAQ say that from 1 April 2026 the general fuel levy rises to R4.10/litre for petrol and R3.93/litre for diesel, the Road Accident Fund levy rises to R2.25/litre, and the carbon fuel levy rises to 19c/litre for petrol and 23c/litre for diesel. That works out to an additional 21c/litre on both petrol and diesel versus the March structure.
So why is April looking so brutal? The department itself warned on 10 March 2026 that the continued rise in international crude prices was expected to push pump prices higher from April, while also stressing there was no immediate fuel shortage risk in South Africa. Earlier, in the official March 2026 fuel-price statement, the department said Brent crude had already risen from $64.08 to $69.08 over the prior review period, with higher shipping rates and geopolitical tension around the Strait of Hormuz helping to push prices up.
The CEF numbers show that the biggest driver this month is not abstract “market uncertainty” but the actual cost of refined fuel products. In the 26 March snapshot, the movement in international product prices accounted for about 525.804 c/l of the Petrol 95 under-recovery but a much larger 935.631 c/l for Diesel 0.05%. Exchange-rate weakness added another 56.181 c/l to Petrol 95 and 77.294 c/l to Diesel 0.05%. That is why diesel is being hit far harder than petrol in the current forecast.
For motorists, the practical question is what this would mean at the pump. The official March 2026 schedule put 93 petrol inland at R20.19/litre, 95 petrol inland at R20.30/litre, 95 petrol coastal at R19.47/litre, and Diesel 0.05% inland at R18.5383/litre. If the month had effectively closed around the 26 March CEF averages, and if you then layer in the already-signalled 21c/litre levy increase, 95 inland petrol would move above R26/litre, while inland diesel would move close to R29/litre. That is illustrative rather than final, but it shows why April search interest is so intense.
It is also worth remembering that a South African pump price is not just crude oil plus a retailer markup. In the official March structure for 95 inland petrol, the basic fuel price component was 866.170 c/l, but the final regulated price also included fuel taxes, the RAF levy, transport costs, wholesale and retail margins, storage, and secondary distribution. That is why a jump in the basic fuel price can be amplified into a much more painful retail number once the full regulated structure is applied.
The broader economic fallout is already part of the policy conversation. Reuters reported on 26 March 2026 that the South African Reserve Bank, while holding rates steady, now expects second-quarter fuel inflation of more than 18% as rising energy prices feed into the inflation outlook. That does not just affect drivers; it matters for food logistics, public transport costs, freight, delivery pricing and household budgets more generally.
The clearest editorial takeaway is this: April 2026 is shaping up to be a shock month, especially for diesel users. Petrol is under serious pressure, but diesel is where the pain looks most severe because the international product-price move has been sharper there. Until the final April ministerial adjustment is published, the safest reading is that South Africa is heading for a very large fuel-price increase, not a routine monthly change.
Sources
Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources — fuel prices page and March 2026 fuel-price statement.
DMPR update on fuel supply and prices — 10 March 2026 statement on expected April pressure and supply position.
Central Energy Fund — daily basic fuel price snapshot for 26 March 2026 and month-to-date under-recovery data.
DMRE March 2026 price schedules — official March pump and wholesale prices.
National Treasury Budget Review 2026 and SARS Budget 2026 FAQ — 1 April levy and carbon-fuel-levy changes.
Reuters — SARB outlook referencing fuel inflation pressure in Q2 2026.
