Treasury’s official proposals to lower South Africa’s petrol prices – including a fuel price cap

THE National Treasury has detailed its official proposals to tackle South Africa’s record-high petrol prices.

In a presentation to parliament on Tuesday (15 March), Treasury said that it had narrowed down its proposals to four options, with a combination of these proposals likely to be the most effective:

• A potential one-off reduction of between 3 cents – 18 cents/litre as part of a recommended Basic Fuel Price review which could be introduced immediately;
• A review of the Regulatory Accounting System (RAS) methodology for petrol could result in a significant decrease of R1.03 cents/litre by 2028. However, this will take significantly longer to implement than other measures and investigations need to take place to fully understand the changes that can be implemented.
• Revising the Road Accident Fund Levy to make up a lower total of the current Basic Fuel Price. Currently, National Treasury regulated levies account for 30% of the total